Mark West
Realize our calling
By Mark West
American history is poised on the threshold of an innovative era. However, abandoning this perch is the trying challenge of our time. Past generations rose to adequately overcome the dire and often complex circumstances they encountered. While aware of the danger they faced our ancestors chose to triumph without regard for the price.
We shouldn't fool ourselves into believing that ours is the first time that our nation has been so controversially divided over foreign policy. Such debate and divide has existed since our infancy and a world power.
Americans have a choice in the direction of our future. Fully regarding all viewpoints on how we should deal with the world, one essential fact is becoming clearer. President George W. Bush said in his inaugural address that, "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands."
This concept didn't originate with President Bush. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy both echoed this call of American responsibility in a world that daily is growing smaller and smaller. While America has always been cautious about searching out monsters in the world, she is now faced with the ugly reality that the monsters of the world have found us and will not stop until they have destroyed us.
Ignorance of our recent past has driven many to believe that the 9/11 attack was an isolated incident. Beginning in 1979, Islamic terrorists began an assault on the super power that was unwilling and unable to confront them...the United States of America. From President Jimmy Carter's failure to those of President Bill Clinton, our nation had never openly and actively confronted the terrorists that were targeting our citizens at home and abroad.
President Bush failed to prevent 9/11, but has set out to atone for that failure in his pursuit of defending America. He seems to get it. Whether through weapons, diplomacy or just mere encouragement; the President understands that liberty must be promoted on a global basis. While President Clinton is out drumming up money for nations in poverty, President Bush is busy fighting for the liberty of those who lack even basic human rights.
Americans must realize the potential threat that is posed if we fail in Iraq. Pulling out in the absence of a decisive victory will do little to quell the terrorist threat and much to embolden them to further attacks on our soil. American lives are at stake in the blood-stained desert sands of Iraq. Are we willing to remain faithful to the calling that our ancestors have prepared us to face, or will we wilt away from prominence in this world due to fear?
© Mark West
American history is poised on the threshold of an innovative era. However, abandoning this perch is the trying challenge of our time. Past generations rose to adequately overcome the dire and often complex circumstances they encountered. While aware of the danger they faced our ancestors chose to triumph without regard for the price.
We shouldn't fool ourselves into believing that ours is the first time that our nation has been so controversially divided over foreign policy. Such debate and divide has existed since our infancy and a world power.
Americans have a choice in the direction of our future. Fully regarding all viewpoints on how we should deal with the world, one essential fact is becoming clearer. President George W. Bush said in his inaugural address that, "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands."
This concept didn't originate with President Bush. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy both echoed this call of American responsibility in a world that daily is growing smaller and smaller. While America has always been cautious about searching out monsters in the world, she is now faced with the ugly reality that the monsters of the world have found us and will not stop until they have destroyed us.
Ignorance of our recent past has driven many to believe that the 9/11 attack was an isolated incident. Beginning in 1979, Islamic terrorists began an assault on the super power that was unwilling and unable to confront them...the United States of America. From President Jimmy Carter's failure to those of President Bill Clinton, our nation had never openly and actively confronted the terrorists that were targeting our citizens at home and abroad.
President Bush failed to prevent 9/11, but has set out to atone for that failure in his pursuit of defending America. He seems to get it. Whether through weapons, diplomacy or just mere encouragement; the President understands that liberty must be promoted on a global basis. While President Clinton is out drumming up money for nations in poverty, President Bush is busy fighting for the liberty of those who lack even basic human rights.
Americans must realize the potential threat that is posed if we fail in Iraq. Pulling out in the absence of a decisive victory will do little to quell the terrorist threat and much to embolden them to further attacks on our soil. American lives are at stake in the blood-stained desert sands of Iraq. Are we willing to remain faithful to the calling that our ancestors have prepared us to face, or will we wilt away from prominence in this world due to fear?
© Mark West
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