Posted by
JayPeriod on Thursday, August 02, 2007 2:36:37 PM
I was serving in the Army in 1986 when President Reagan sent bombers to Libya. I had been in three buildings where bombs from terrorists had been found, thankfully before they went off. We lived every day with the concern that some lunatic was going to do his "Islamic" duty and blow up himself and us. We tried not to let it get to us, but you could sense that everyone had it, at least, in the back of their mind.
Then, on that fateful morning, the President sent a few bombers with a "message" for President Khadaffi. That message cost the terrorist funding leader the life of his daughter. It was a message that rang loud and clear and brought an end to his stage.
President Reagan responded to terror with strength. He realized that was the only thing Khadaffi would understand. He didn't wait for 16 UN resolutions to be ignored, or for European leaders to give their consent. He wasn't even worried about how the other oil-rich Middle Eastern nations would react. He saw what needed to be done, and he did it.
The important thing is that he didn't want to repeat the mistakes of Vietnam. In that war, we were more concerned with collateral damage and world opinion than with winning the war and ending tyranny. We hamstrung our troops and allowed an enemy who cared nothing about life, even young children. It was the North Vietnamese who were sending in children strapped with bombs, yet our soldiers were blasted for protecting themselves from them. It was the North Vietnamese who were torturing and detaining prisoners, not our side.
Today, we see the same things happening. We are not allowing our troops to pursue terrorists for fear of what the rest of the world will think. All the while, terrorists are sending in children to do their dirty work, and humiliating and beheading prisoners, even civilians. We are trying to finesse an enemy who only understands one thing; strength.
Islam translates "submission", not "peace." The demand submission through any process. Until we realize these radicals will use any means necessary to obtain it, we will struggle with this war for many years, and lives, to come. If there truly are moderates in the Islamic world, they must be made to stand up and fight against the terrorists as well, bringing them into submission. If Islam wants to be a religion of peace, they must use strength to subdue the radicals.
If we are to win this war on terror, we must follow the example of Ronald Reagan. We must ensure the terrorists know who is the stronger. To fail, would be catastrophic. Future generations, under the heavy hand of regimes such as the Taliban, would look upon us with disdain for not fighting as though it mattered. We cannot fail. The cost is too great. We must fight the right way.