Lost in Translation

Elite media outlets, partisan pundits and political hacks can’t have it both ways. By pointing one finger at the Bush administration suggesting they should have been more aggressive against terrorist prior to 9-11, while pointing another finger at the Bush administration saying they were too aggressive (Iraq war) after 9-11, they are jeopardizing our future safety and security. Honest debate is healthy, but playing the blame game with national security is harmful, bordering on treason. Everyone in the Bush administration has been extremely careful not to blame the Clinton administration for their failures to respond to previous terrorist attacks during their 8 years in office (the World Trade Center bombing 2/26/93 -- killing 6, injuring 1,000, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia bombing 11/13/95—killing 7, injuring 37, embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania 8/07/00 – killing over 200 and injuring over 4,500, USS Cole bombing 10/12/00 – killing 17, injuring 39), to name a few. The war was waged, yet we were not engaged in spite of all these savage warnings that should have put ALL of us on war footing to defeat our enemies, but it didn’t.

Let’s be clear and intellectually honest, the terrorist attacks on 9-11 changed the world in which we live and our understanding of the threats we face. After 9-11 President Bush declared war against the terrorist and those who harbor them. Since 9-11 President Bush and his administration have aggressively taken the offensive to win the global war against terrorism. Unfortunately, it took the assassination of 3,000 of our citizens to awaken all of us to the hatred and murderous intentions of our enemies. I implore everyone (particularly members of the media) to close your eyes and remember the horror of 9-11 as aircraft crashed into the Pentagon, World Trade Center towers and a lone field in Pennsylvania. After doing this, please open your eyes and point your fingers of blame directly at the perpetrators of these crimes, not those who have labored on both sides of the political aisle to protect and defend our freedoms and our citizens.

The war in Afghanistan was waged to prosecute murderers, destroy their training camps and to eliminate state sponsored terrorism. The war in Iraq is not a war about oil, as some would suggest, it is about ridding the world of an evil dictator who used WMD against his own people and posed a “gathering threat against the United States.” In fact the only real evidence that the Iraq war was about oil are recent revelations that France, Germany, Russia and the United Nations opposed the war to protect their self interest and exposed theft of billions of dollars swindled from the Oil for Food Program. The war in Iraq is not another Viet Nam, as Ted Kennedy, Robert Bird and militant Shiite cleric (and murderer) Moqtada Sadr would have us believe. We lost 58,000 soldiers in Viet Nam in a war that was ultimately lost because of failed policies and a lack of support at home. The death of nearly 3,000 soldiers who have bravely lost their lives in the war against terrorism must not be compromised or cheapened at the expense of partisan politics. The war in Iraq is not a quagmire, but an offensive war against terrorist and those who harbor them. We did not start this war, but it is a war that must be won. Failure is not an option.

Fifty million people have been liberated in Afghanistan and Iraq, and if we are going to win the hearts and minds of others we must first defeat the heartless and mindless murderers who wish us harm. Freedom is a magical potion that creates passion and hope, and once inhaled -- like oxygen, it can never be lived without. The people of Afghanistan and Iraq are discovering the meaning and virtue of Patrick Henry’s proclamation, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” As Dr. Rice recently testified before the 9-11 commission, if we learn nothing else from the events of this awful day, it is that we must win this war against terrorist or face the loss of both liberty and life. Our anger, rage and finger of blame should forever be pointed at the throats of terrorist and those who harbor them. God Bless our troops and save us all if you -- the elite media, the 9-11 commission, partisan pundits or the world community ascribes blame or condemnation elsewhere.

The most important question facing our nation is not who is to blame for failures to prevent the 9-11 attacks, but what are we currently doing to avert future murderous acts against our citizens? Failure to translate the lessons of 9-11 into offensive action toward winning the war on terrorism will lead to, in the words of the terrorist, “something very, very, very, very, very, very, very BIG.” And that’s bad, very bad. We are at war against an evil enemy and it is time for every American to recall the horrors of 9-11, pick sides and ask, “What am I doing to support our troops and to help win the war on terrorism?” Pointing fingers, loosing our resolve and blaming America first is the only “silver bullet” that could possibly lead to our defeat. Let me translate -- We are at war and we must win! We are doing the right thing and we are going to win, and it is time for the liberal, biased, partisan elite media to “knock-it-off!” Freedom is not free.

Michael Tetrick

Lt. Col. (Retired) Fighter Pilot