On
WW II, the largest war in history, with military forces from over seventy
nations, resulted in the deaths of over sixty million people, ending in 1945
with an Allied victory. Throughout this
struggle, the objective remained clearly fixed in the national consciousness –
unconditional surrender and total victory.
Our country was unified in our commitment to defeat tyranny, a tyranny of
hatred which would seek to extinguish from existence a scapegoat of national
trouble – the Jewish nation. A tyranny
of hegemony, which would claim as a national right the territory of neighbors.
A tyranny of hubris which would proclaim the superiority of one race
over another, and thereby relegate the other to sub-human form.
Today we face a similar enemy, likewise filled with hatred, hopes of
hegemony, and misplaced pride in the moral righteousness of their apocalyptic vision. To meet this enemy, we must likewise be
unified in our understanding of the scope of the challenge and the commitment
required to prevail.
We are again engaged in a great struggle.
It is a struggle, not of mased formations, or heroic assaults picturesque
in the resolution of some final last charge, but rather of resolute minds
convinced of the rationality and the rightness of their beliefs. These beliefs are unchanging and everlasting.
We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal.
That they are endowed by their creator wih certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. That to secure
these rights, governments ae instituted among men. These are the rights which we fight for,
because these are the rights of man.
In this war, we seek to spread these truths beyond our shores to the
community of man because we have found that the consequences of the despotic
denial of these rights cannot be prevented from reaching our shores.
These truths are also the truths which our enemies seek to abolish,
replacing them with their own version of truth – a truth which is imposed by a
government which cannot be questioned because it is assumed to be divinely
inspired. A government in which the
divine and the secular are inextricably combined, leaving no room to question
the latter. A government in which
individual liberty of conscience and freedom to follow ones own inner light is
replaced with an off with your head response to those who hold opposing
views.
But as repugnant as our enemies tactics are, our fight cannot be and must
not be through force alone or even primarily.
For the fight is not about conquering men's territory, but rather about
reaching their souls and lighting them aflame with the torch of reason, and the
light of liberty.
These goals cannot be accomplished with fire and steel alone, but must rely
upon the substance and evidence of our hope, being shown through our actions to
free others from the chains of poverty, disease, despotism, and despair. The treasure expensed in maintaining and
transforming our armed forces must be matched by an equal, or even greater
commitment to maintaining and transforming our diplomatic, economic, and
informational elements of national power.
Democracy does not take root, grow, and thrive from the barrel of a
gun. Rather, such means give only
temporary space for the roots of Democracy to shoot upward, unencumbered, if
only for a moment, from the tares of turmoil, the pessimism of poverty, and the
despotism of despair.
Likewise, this struggle is not, and cannot be, ours alone, nor should we
expect to win it alone. America has
indeed been set as a light upon a hill, but that light cannot illuminate unless
it is fed by the fire of the countless souls whose longing for and commitment
to the freedom of man transcends their own small sphere of self interest. America must continue to shine as a beacon of
hope, but the radiance of that hope is enhanced or diminished inasmuch as others
share this same commitment.
We alone cannot bring freedom to the world.
We alone cannot end the suffering in Darfur. We alone cannot bring peace to the Middle
East. We alone cannot solve the
ecological, economic, and energy problems of the world, but we, along with the
community of nations, nations committed to the same ideals and shared goals,
can and must do these things.
We must also speak plainly and trust in the common sense of our fellow
citizens to know the truth when it is put before them and to arrive at this
truth through open debate and honest discourse.
This is indeed a different kind of war, and we must address these
differences clearly and openly.
What are the new rules which should govern its conduct? Who are its combatants? What are their rights? How should we treat them, both those who are
lawful as well as those who are unlawful combatants? What are those things which we must do? What
are those things which we cannot and must not do? How do we prosecute this most collective of
pursuits, this war, while at the same time preserving that which is most dear –
our individual liberties and our way of life?
Where is the honest debate without politics? Where are the statesmen who ask not what the
polls say but rather what their conscience and their reason says? Must we truly become what we despise, or
loose what we hold most dear, our freedom, our values, and our honor, in order
to be victorious? If so, it will be a
phyric victory indeed – security without liberty, and safety without the solace
of a clean conscience.
Let us be clear. We are at war, and
as such sacrifice is required. But
sacrifice does not entail blind obedience.
Above all, we are a nation of laws, our Constitution providing us with
the framework upon which this house is built.
As we prosecute this war, we must do so within the constraints of our
Constitution and our laws in regards to which no office can claim
immunity. To question authority is not
unpatriotic. Rather it is the height of
patriotism to question authority at some personal sacrifice when such authority
is over or mis-used.
This is not to accuse or to frame as simplistic the questions we face. What are the limts of executive authority in
war? What are the responsibilities of
our elected representatives to oversight and authorization? What are the roles of our judiciary in
protecting the rights of citizens, even if these citizens are allied with those
who wish to do us harm? How active of a
domestic role should our military have in this war? These are questions which reman
unanswered. Where is the national
debate? Where is the local debate among
citizens? Do most of us even realize our
agree that we are in a war of global and generational scope?
Wake up! Get involved! Enter the debate! If not now then when? If not you then
who? Our President has been tellng us
that we are in a worldwide, multigeneraional war since 9/11. This is the first world war since the 40's. Where is the national debate? Where is the local debate? Where is the realization and understanding
that Iraq and Afghanistan are only the most visible fronts in this war? But don't take my word for it. Listen to the enemy's words.
"Those who study Jihad will understand why Islam wants to conquer the
world. All the countries conquered by
Islam or to be conquered in the future will be marked for everlasting
salvation. Islam says: Kill all the
unbelievers…" (Ayatollah Khomeini) "If
their economy is destroyed, they will be busy with their own affairs rather
than enslaving the weak peoples. It is
very important to concentrate on hitting the US economy by all possible
means." (Usama bin Laden) "The aftermath of the collapse of
American power in Vietnam – and how they ran and left their agents – is
noteworthy." "Oh Allah, strike
the apostate rulers. Oh Allah, kill them
one after the other sparing none."
(Al Zarqawi)
What we instead hear are the political grandstandings on CSPAN of those
hoping to score political points in the elections rather than hard, honest, and
sensible debate about issues which are vital to our nation. Do our elected officials think we are too
simpleminded to understand the complexities of this war? To the degree we as a people remain
uninvolved, they are right.
Some here are part of the greatest generation. You know first hand about sacrifice. You know first hand about the price of
freedom. I guess the question is, is the
current generation up to the task? Has
it been so coddled by comfort that sacrifice and moral courage are forgotten
concepts? Has it been socially promoted
so much that intellectual curiosity and rigour have been extinguished? Has it become so inundated with information
that it can no longer find understanding?
Has it become so confounded by political confabulations that it can no
longer recognize the truth?
At this celebration of our history, let us pause to reflect what we have
learned, what we have tried to teach each other and our youth, and where we
have failed and must re-attack.
First, we must understand the situation we are in. We are at war. It is a multigenerational war waged against
an unconventional threat, yet the rules governing this war are not yet written. It's time to re-write the rules.
Second, if we are to be victorious in this war, such a state cannot come
about without also protecting and preserving our laws, our Constitution, and
our way of life. We must weigh the new
character of war and its emergng rules carefully in the balance of these
enduring principles.
Lastly, we must be careful that in fighting what is anathema to us we do
not become that which we fight against by accepting evil in trying to achieve
good.
We are indeed in a new kind of war. How
we choose to go about it will define, in large degree, who we are and what we
become. May we be careful to choose the
right path.