The State of America @ War

Michael F. Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA, and someone who served as chief of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center gave a frank assessment of our current war on terror and the political quagmire that has been created by a government who lacks the resolve to win this war decisively. He revealed a political climate which lacks the ability to rise above the political correct fray within our community and courtrooms and conduct a global war on terror with VICTORY as our ultimate goal.

In the Op-Ed piece in the Washington times, he lays out 8 points to consider if we are to gain and keep the momentum in this war on terror and achieve ultimate victory in that region or fail miserably by losing our resolve to win the war on terror. Failing to recognize the true threat we face today is #1 on his list. Scheuer states,

"America's bipartisan leaders fail to accept that we are at war with militant Islamists terrorists — if you prefer, because of our policies in the Muslim world — not because of what we think or believe. Willful blindness on this score ensures our defeat by the growing number of young Muslims rallying to al Qaedaism. The equation is immutable: Fail to know your enemy and you always lose."

While we continue to allow ourselves to believe that this war isn’t about Islamism (the conversion of the entire world to the Islamic faith) and more directly, Islamo Fascism (the forced conversion and adherence of extreme Islamic Law) our collective will and resolve is slowing being eaten away. Our troops continue to fight with valor and pride understanding the stakes that America faces but the public, lead by our vacillating Congressional leaders and a gangrenous main stream media can’t help but to lose their resolve and focus.
Scheuer, continues to address our inability to deal with the reality of war when he says,

“As a society, we have failed to teach children that war's nature never changes, that wars are tremendously bloody and should not be entered lightly, and that when war is joined, annihilation of the foe is the only moral goal. The result is a lengthening list of lost or failing wars because we fight for issues unrelated to U.S. interests — Somalia, Haiti, the Balkans — or refuse to fully apply the power of the earth's greatest military when our interests are at risk — Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Simply, our leaders do not know how to wage war, and the Pentagon's uniformed bureaucrats lack the guts to tell them their wrong. In big wars, America's goal is desolation of the enemy, not an exit strategy. The former yields victory, the latter yields quagmire.”

America’s resolve is under attack and I fear that our resolve is losing the current battle. What would it take for Americans to understand the price we have to pay to stay free? When will our elected leaders understand that it is ill-advised to politicize this war. We must remain united if we are to achieve victory.

While there is yet another campaign to remove ‘Under God’ from our currency and while that campaign receives more press than any positive news story of our efforts in the war on terror, there is another saying that has been clearly ignored by Conservatives and Liberals alike. This phrase located on every piece of US currency in circulation. This phrase symbolizes the strength of America and her ability to overcome every obstacle that would hinder her growth as a free nation. This phrase “E Pluribus Unum” – ‘Out of Many, One’ is what has brought America through its darkest hours before and unless we understand what those words mean to us today, Scheuer’s prediction may yet come to pass.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu