The War on Terror

Though I am not currently or have I ever been in the military, I have many friends and family that are and have been. One of my best friends was killed in Afghanistan when the truck he was driving was blown up killing him and the three passengers with him. Because of horrible things like this, people have decided that this fight is worthless. We are losing our sons and daughters in foreign lands and it disturbs us. We hate to see our friends and family taken away from us in a war that seems to be in the eyes of some, “unwinable.” So the media and the population as a whole begins to speak out against he war. Popular opinion is that the war is bad and so that makes it ok to degrade the present and the officials and anyone else who support the war. We see soldiers at the airports we feel uncomfortable. They are ignored and even seen at outcasts or fools. They are not looked-up to or admired, but instead are being pitied for being involved in this unpopular conflict where “the people we are protecting don’t even want us there” (so says the media).
After my brother returned from a year in Iraq I asked him a number of questions about his thoughts on the war. His response was inspiring. He said that in previous wars, there has been a conflict over ideas or land or even genocide. No matter how bad or evil we think one side was, there were always some good people who were just fighting for their country. They didn’t know they issues, they just knew they needed to defend their country. The difference in this war is that it is a war against actual “Bad Guys.” These people are terrorists. Their enemies are not people with certain ideals or people from a certain culture or people group. They are against anyone who opposes their rule. They kill their own people and countrymen everyday. They are not fighting for their country or for their people, but they are fighting and killing themselves and others in order to make people afraid, to insight fear or terror. They seek to steal people’s faith. They must strip away people’s faith in the government and faith in the systems that are supposed to protect them. They desire to steal people’s faith in God or anything higher or more powerful than they are. Their goal is that people would be terrorized to the point that they give up and say, “I have given up faith in everything and everyone, if you will let us rest, we will do whatever you want.”
The Iraqi people want us out because there is the illusion that if we are not there fighting for them the terrorist will leave them alone. They will take over and continue a rule of terror, but they make that rule look like a heavenly oasis compared to what they are experiencing now.
Why are we in this war on terror? On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked by terrorists. As a country we decided to go to war against the terrorists and fight them where they live instead of allowing other attacks. If we withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, do we really think the war wont move with us? As we continue the fight against terror we must understand that we have two options, to fight overseas or to fight at home. In America we have some things that a majority of the world doesn’t have or even understand. We have freedom. We have Justice. We have the right to have faith in our leaders and government, faith in the systems to change our leaders and laws and faith in God. If one has never lived in a country without those things, one can easily think those things are not that important.
I saw a group of six soldiers the other day airport. Many of them were getting ready for their first tour of duty overseas and one had just got back from Afghanistan. I told them that I really appreciated them and the fact that they would go fight to defend our country. The six of them all looked at me for a moment and said nothing. Then the one who had just returned from his tour turned and with misty eyes said, “Wow… Thank you so much for saying that. It means a lot… People don’t tell us that very often.” That made me sad. These young men and women are giving their lives for our country and people are treating them like they have a disease. The great thing about America is that we defend the rights of the poor and needy. We seek to bring freedom and justice to the people without. We bring hope and faith to the hopeless and seek to make the world a better place. Whatever you thoughts on the war, please make sure to tell the troops that you see and run into just how mush you appreciate their sacrifice for you freedom to live in a place without terror. We Support Our Troops. They are heroes and we want to thank them.