When Is War Not?

Our enemy sits in caves entertained by our divisive bickering, our overly-emotionalized whining, and our celebration of anniversaries.

Tragic. Certainly. Not the first, not the worst, not the last tragedy in human events.
Nor will this be the last act of war perpetrated upon civilized people by ruthless losers who have no hope, skills, or optimism.
The Islamic fascists will never build anything like what they destroy.

Five years after the sneak attack upon civilization using the United States of America as a metaphor, many Americans continue to whine, immerse themselves in, and profit from the emotionalized, tragic aspect of the official opening of World War III.

Every civilized human perceives the tragic aspect, the waste of human potential, and the disgusting nature of the losers who perpetrated the events of 9/11.

The tragedy was personal for the families and friends of those killed in the 9/11 events. That is sad. We all have sadness in the course of our lives. Dealing with sadness and moving on is the mark of mature, educated minds.

The tragedy of 9/11 is meaningful for civilized people everywhere because they respect peoples' right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Events of 9/11 are sad because our progress and happiness is being threatened.

But tragedy is not the preeminent aspect of the events of 9/11.

The preeminent aspect of 9/11 is not that nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered. Nor is it that buildings fell and were damaged.

The preeminent aspect of 9/11 is that each human being living a free and civilized life has been attacked. Each of us has now been alerted and warned and should understand this. Each of us should be cognizant of the primitive creatures stalking us and poking around looking for ways to destroy our culture and kill us.

Our smug, omnipotent, invincible feeling of safety and security was -- or should by now have been -- destroyed.

Civilization will win this long war only if it acts decisively and offensively against its enemy.

Our enemy is not populated with masterminds. Its leaders and soldiers have lives not worth living. They have no sense of optimism. They do not work to create, build and please themselves or their loved ones.

Our enemy is not populated with masterminds. Our enemy is populated with losers who have nothing left to lose. They wage World War III aiming to destroy civilization's progress. They derive pleasure by killing civilized people who go about their lives learning, creating, and enjoying. Murder and destruction define our enemy's broadest objective.

Today's long struggle forces the war of the 20th century into a scaled-down perspective. In today's war, World War III, our enemy has more dedicated, unthinking soldiers than existed in WWI, WWII and in the Cold War combined. World War III cannot be won by defeating our enemy's leadership. World War III cannot be won by depleting the ranks of our enemy's soldiers.

World War III can only be won by killing our enemy's leadership, depleting its ranks, and isolating its remnants in their self-imposed squalor.

Civilized people have no choice. Our enemy can only achieve his objective of destruction, killing, mass subservience, and conversion from civilized to his demented brand of Islam if we surrender.

Civilization is torn between surrendering and living in a never-ending, self-involved tragedy or standing tall in self defense.

Civilization will prove its genuine worthiness if it unites and chooses self defense. Civilization will validate its unworthiness if it chooses self-involved tragedy and the false enjoyment of being a weak victim. If civilization chooses the latter, it should lie down and accept its justified end -- the end it will have earned.