This is going to be a long post, because the post quoted below really set me off…
In a candy-covered, happy-go-lucky, idiot-proof world this would be a nice ideal to have.
Unfortunately, this is the real world. Pacifism is not universally embraced. There are people out there who would be delighted to see the United States go up in flames. Our country has the right to defend itself with weapons. We are not going to defeat the terrorists by throwing daisies at them. We are not going to defeat them by giving them a bad look and saying, “No more of that!” We are not going to defeat them by wagging our finger at them and saying, “Naughty, naughty!”
Catching Osama bin Laden will require force. Catching the rest of his terrorist organization will require force. We will not achieve our objectives any other way.
We are not dealing with a country that you can negotiate with, nor are we dealing with an organization on which you can apply diplomatic pressure. This is al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization that answers only to itself. Diplomacy will not work. Negotiation will not work. Force is required, and anyone who believes that the terrorists can simply be talked out of not sending suicide troops to our shores is dangerously naive. I do not enjoy the idea of fellow Americans fighting in a long and protracted war. I do not enjoy the idea that we will be committed to a lenghty and difficult campaign, and civilian casualties in other lands may be unavoidable. None of this is pleasing to me. But what is less pleasing is the concept of simply taking no action all, for that will give them the idea that we will simply absorb whatever blow is delivered, and put up no defense. That kind of approach puts our citizens at home in terrible danger, including you, Otto.
Otto, perhaps you don’t understand the magnitude of what has happened, the implications of the recent events. This was an enormous and unprecented change in how terrorists inflict their harm on the U.S. Our own home soil has been exposed as vulnerable, and they will strike again. I am certain of it. They will strike again, and they will take no regard of your pacifistic ideals or desires for world peace. They will take no regard of your moral stance on world problems. They will strike again, unless we put their terrorist organization out of operation, and stop any future terrorist actions from happening again.
I doubt that we will ever be totally immune from future terrorist attacks. But we can, and should, do whatever we can to minimize the danger. That includes crushing bin Laden’s organization.
The events of September 11, 2001 will likely come to be remembered as a watershed moment in our country’s history, a line of demarcation where an abrupt and radical change can be seen to have occurred in our nation. April 12, 1861 was such a day. December 7, 1941 was another such day. November 22, 1963 was another. Our national psyche has been badly shaken, and in response to such a shock, it does not surprise me that one of the ways we seek to endure these moments is to show patriotism. The terrorists performed this obscene act because of who they believe we are. We are now showing the world what we really are. The terrorists sought to demoralize us, to terrorize us. They have done nothing of the sort. They have sought to make us lose faith in our country, to lose faith in our security. They will fail in that endeavor as weel. And part of the reason why they will fail is because of ordinary citizens displaying their patriotism. This patriotic display isn’t simply a jingoistic pose. I see it as a direct rebuke to the terrorists.
That you would take such strong exception to this rallying to the country is disheartening. If you choose not to demonstrate any outward signs of patriotism, that is your choice. If you choose to criticize others for their display of patriotism, that is your choice as well. But it is a poor choice, because by questioning these displays of patriotism, you are giving the impression that it is wrong to do what you can, however you can, to maintain your spirit in the face of such horror.
