Tuesday, Dec. 01, 2009

War – it still exists

Some days I wonder if people realize Osama bin Laden and his followers are still trying to kill us. I don’t say that lightly.

Whether referring to our national political leadership or people on the street, sometimes it’s just not clear that the country realizes evil still exists. Unless we, as a nation, retreat to within our borders and stop trying to reach out to the rest of the world for economic, humanitarian and other reasons, we will continue to influence other peoples’ opinions about us — good and bad.

The people around the world who do not like our culture will oppose us. Some of those people fear our influence on their way of life and they’ve decided to kill Americans wherever they can. These fanatics have not given up violence and the spread of their hatred. So I don’t understand why some people in this country and others around the world think that this war doesn’t exist.

Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan, who allegedly attacked his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood a few weeks ago, immediately leaped into my mind. Hasan is a terrorist. He may be a murderous piece of slime as well, but he’s a follower of the same radical beliefs that fuel al-Qaida’s murderous attacks. Hasan is a traitor in addition to being a terrorist. For an officer and medical professional to attack the very soldiers who are supposed to be his comrades was unthinkable before the Fort Hood attacks.

Well, it’s not unthinkable now and it shows the reach of the philosophical bloodlust of the lunatics running around with al-Qaida. Their actions defy the categorization of criminal. We are at war with them. This war is once again on our soil.

Resourcing the war in Afghanistan also comes to mind. I believe the discussion between President Barack Obama and his generals about a troop surge should have occurred behind closed doors. The person who leaked Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s report did not help the decision process.

Too much visibility can slow a decision. Nonetheless, the leak occurred and the president has taken a long time to make a decision. I know that placing more soldiers on the ground increases the number of friendly targets.

However, delaying a deployment can send a message of timidity and risk casualties among the forces already deployed because they may not be able to mass sufficient combat power against the Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the area. I’ve also been concerned that the people who say we have nothing to fear from al-Qaida will convince the president to give up on Afghanistan. Maybe those folks need to replay the videos from the Sept. 11 attacks. People who are willing to die to kill Americans are still out there. If you don’t believe it, visit Fort Hood.

So I sure hope everyone picks up on the small nugget that we are in a war. We aren’t experiencing the casualties of World Wars I or II, thankfully, but the monsters are still out there. We had better not forget that or they’ll come calling again.

John M. House is a retired Army colonel who lives in Midland, Ga. His e-mail is housearmylife@aol.com.