The Most Important Issue

If I write about one topic all quarter it must be on this issue, the most important issue facing this country today, and an issue the left in this country has yet to grasp. No, it has nothing to do with income redistribution, institutional discrimination, or “social justice.” The very existence of this country is being threatened. Not by greedy reactionary capitalists, not by abortion doctors and homosexuals, not even by free masons, but by a large group of fundamentalist terrorists based in the Middle East and elsewhere and consolidated in an organization known as Al Qaeda.

The very fact that I seem to have to write about this is insulting. Anyone, it seems, would be able to realize this country is at war with Al Qaeda after what happened on a certain Tuesday in September 2001. But amazingly, four years after the worst terrorist attack in the history of the United States, large segments of the population who seem to all congregate on the left side of the political spectrum still don’t get it. That’s why I’m writing, in order to explain the gravity of the situation. Since President Bush’s speech to Congress mere days after September 11, 2001, the United States of America and the countries around the world that still understand how the world works joined the war on terror started by Al Qaeda and their supporters. This war on terror, Bush promised, would not be over quickly, it would have many fronts and battles (some seen, others unseen), and may involve the loss of American life, as all wars do. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not just isolated conflicts started “for oil” or other reasons. They are part of the larger war on Al Qaeda and states known to support terrorism. Again, this larger war on terror will not be over today, tomorrow, or even a year from now. This war on terror is a long, protracted conflict perhaps lasting several decades and constituting the defining struggle of this generation. This is fundamentally not unlike our parents’ cold war or our grandparents’ second world war. However, the stakes are much, much higher.

The nature of the enemy is another point of confusion among the left, including who they are and what they want. No matter how much left-wing protesters say it, or want it to be true, this is not a war on Islam, this is not a racist war against Arabs, and this is not another crusade. Islam, as President Bush described it, is a religion of peace. “Those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah.” This is a group representing a very small, fringe sect who refer to themselves as Muslims. Al Qaeda has many members, not just Arabs but members of many other nationalities, including those born in this country who have since betrayed it. This enemy is unlike any enemy America has ever faced. They cannot be persuaded by negotiation, concession, or appeasement. They do not seek peaceful coexistence, they do not want to “just get along,” they don’t even want to conquer or enslave us. This enemy wants us dead. All of us. Just ask the nearly 3,000 Americans who were killed on 9/11 what Al Qaeda’s objectives are. This is why the only acceptable outcome in this war on terror is absolute victory.

There you have it, folks. In approximately 650 words, a brief synopsis of the most important issue facing our country. This is who we’re fighting, why we’re fighting, and why it is so important. If you like living in America, if you like living at all, realize how important absolute victory in this struggle is. You and your posterity might not be here if we lose.