Second wind needed

James Lewis:

There comes a time in all marathons when the temptation to give in becomes overwhelming. We are facing such a moment in our national response to 9/11. The enticing voices of ease and retreat are sounding louder and more confident, and our will to persist is suffering the death of a thousand cuts. Yet if we fail to persist in our response to the terror attacks we will fail, period. Mentally, we have almost fallen back to 9/10 - out of breath, unsure of ourselves, and a big, fat target for those who want to kill us.

9/11 is the first great challenge to America that we have failed to respond to as a nation. Pearl Harbor is a close comparison: more than 2,000 dead, a surprise attack by an enemy inspired to suicidal martyrdom in war. The World War Two generation would not recognize our flabby and self-indulgent reaction today. They would have won in Iraq and Iran by this time, increased the size of the military to be adequate to all challenges, and reasserted the values of liberty around the world. The Middle East has seen democratic government only in small fits and starts; but European democracy was not exactly healthy when we intervened in World War Two. We can make democracy happen in the Middle East if we use our power. The defeatist media are hoping that the 9/11 phenomenon will just go away; but it's a fool's hope.

We can blame the appeasers, the Left's constant picking at our sense of self-confidence, our downsized Clintonized armed forces. There will be a thousand excuses. But if we fail to save a whole and prosperous Iraq for the future, when we could do so with a moderate increment in military strength, the grim echoes of our defeat with resound throughout the world.

...

What Iraq needs now is an assertion of strength and will by the United States. Any other "solution" would strengthen those who hate us as the Great Satan, or those who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11. We can impose peace in Baghdad. We can protect the borders.

...
What is missing right now is the will to put the effort into effect. The enemy does not have the military capacity to defeat us. He will only win because he has greater will. The media has been trying to undermine American will since the war began. They have been compliantly following the enemy script on the war.

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