Nighthorse sees the most important division now, not as one between Democrats and Republicans, or liberals and conservatives, but between those who took the message of September 11th to heart and those who didn't. (Ranting Profs)
The Denver Post
guest commentary
Are we truly at war?
By Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Friday, June 04, 2004 -
Before the dust had settled on Manhattan in September 2001, our nation's collective resolve seemed decided: We would find and hold accountable those who used our nation's freedoms to kill thousands of us.
It was hard to find American flags to fly after that day. Like Pearl Harbor, Sept. 11 steeled our resolve to defend America - but for some, only temporarily.
Some in America now seem to have forgotten we are at war. In an age of near-instant gratification of every need, I suppose you could blame that erosion of resolve on our short attention span. In this presidential election year, some have decided to use whatever logic available to undo the election results of 2000. Still others, I believe, are dredging up the spirit of the '60s and view fighting this war effort like rebelling against the Vietnam War.
As someone who has proudly worn the uniform of the U.S. Air Force, I know that no war is good, but some wars simply must be fought if our founding principles are to have any relevance. For me, the horror of Sept. 11 is lasting. I believe there are two very distinct groups of Americans now: the Sept. 10 Americans, who are in denial, and the Sept. 11 Americans.
The question every American must answer is this: Are we truly at war? I believe we are in the early stages of a conflagration that could likely be the next World War. It is a war that pits our sense of freedom and justice against those with radical interpretations of a culture intent on our conversion or our demise.
In America, we invite diversity and are all better for it. In some Mideast nations, you are besieged, bombed or beheaded for your diversity. The contrasts are stark and unavoidable, even by those who hate President Bush and all Republicans. Terrorists are cowards who hide behind masks and attack the innocent. The terrorists who attacked in Munich in 1972; the death squads in El Salvador and Ireland; the bombers of Marine barracks in Beirut; those who blew Pan American Flight 747 out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland; those who attacked the World Trade Center, twice; those who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City; those who used sarin gas in attacks in the Tokyo subways; those who flew loaded planes into the Pentagon and an open field in Pennsylvania; those who bombed military housing towers in Saudi Arabia and the USS Cole; those who blew up commuter trains in Spain and nightclubs in Bali. All of them did not do so because we are Republicans or Democrats; they did so because they fear freedom.
They fear the light of truth so they bomb and behead, they attack and retreat, hoping to wear down our will. Today's terrorists believe and count on all Americans being overweight videogame players, more interested in fixing the outcome of "American Idol" than of defending our freedom. They hold women and children in low esteem and fear seeing others experience the rights that all of civilized humanity have come to believe are basic. I pray they are wrong.
Those Americans who fought in World War II are called the "greatest generation" because they found the will to put their hopes and dreams on hold, to cast aside their political and personal bigotries and defend America and what she stands for. I don't see that collective spirit in many of today's Americans. Many have simply not come to the conclusion that we are at war, for whatever reason. They are content to fight the small, partisan political battles but do not see the War on Terror as the terrorists do.
Terrorists have declared they intend to fight until we are finished, however long that takes. They have the big-picture view that many Americans lack. I pray that we do not endure more attacks like those of Sept. 11 before we cast aside our divisions in favor of the concepts that unify America. I pray that happens, but in my heart I know more attacks are coming and more death will be visited upon us because of what we represent.
I am a Sept. 11 American. I know the world has changed and that Americans must defend America. Everything else we do, everything else we believe, pales in comparison to that duty.
Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell represents Colorado in the U.S. Senate. |
