It's
a Fight for Survival Pull Out All Stops
By
Bruce Herschensohn
It
may seem to be a radical idea, but why not use every means possible
without politically correct detours to win the war
against terrorism?
Our
victory in World War II was not achieved by trying to win the hearts
and minds of Germans and Japanese. We did not dominate the newsreels
with pictures of those things a few American troops did to captured
enemies. We did not call for an end to domestic profiling. We did
not demonstrate against our military involvement. There was not
the outrageous political complaint that "I support the troops but
oppose the war."
Instead
of all that, we bombed our enemies to submission with all the power
and weaponry we had available. After our costly invasion of Europe,
with immense U.S. casualties, the atomic bomb was ready and
to prevent another invasion we used it on Japan. Today, we justifiably
call those Americans of the 1940s "the Greatest Generation." During
those years of war there was one issue: winning the war by demanding
absolute and unconditional surrender of our enemies. Other issues
were put aside as luxuries that would be reserved for a later time;
there was not a simultaneous cry for saving the environment and
a demand for creating more jobs and an insistence on government-provided
healthcare and lower costs for prescription drugs.
But
in the 1960s came the Vietnam War, along with its battles televised
to American living rooms. Since that war, too many Americans have
insisted only on fast wars with few casualties. They all had to
be something like the invasion of Grenada or the liberation of Kuwait.
But
if we want to win the war against terrorism we must accept a lengthy
war with many casualties, because the consequences of defeat will
mean our future generations will be left to lifetimes of fear. If
we lose this war, we will be on the road back to the Middle Ages.
The
devil with winning the hearts and minds of enemies who believe in
primitive and uncivilized governments while being taught to hate
the United States. The devil with allowing privileged sanctuaries
for the enemy as we did during much of the Vietnam War. Now privileged
sanctuaries provide safety not for the North Vietnamese army in
Laos and Cambodia but for terrorists and their headquarters and
safe houses and training centers in Syria and Lebanon and Iran and
Yemen and the West Bank and Gaza. And the devil with congressional
commissions that do little more than bring aid and comfort to our
enemies.
After
the defeat in Southeast Asia, the peace achieved by the enemy cost
more lives than the war. This seems lost in history and intentionally
lost in the memory of many Americans who rallied against the war
in Vietnam. More than a million "boat people" escaped the horrors
of re-education camps in Vietnam, but it's estimated that half of
them drowned in the South China Sea. More than 2 million people
lost their lives in the genocide of Cambodia's peace. If we should
lose this war on terror, Americans could march to re-education camps,
others will become boat people and the U.S. will become a Western
mirror of Cambodia's genocide.
In
fairness, there is an alternative to our involvement in the war
against terrorism, and that is to leave our fate to the international
community under the United Nations. Yes, the U.N. can bring about
peace: the peace of the palace for the few in authority, the peace
of subjugation for the many and the peace of mass graves for the
courageous.
The
only subject worthy of our national attention and the only pursuit
that should be acceptable is total victory no matter if others
are offended or even destroyed. I know this kind of thinking is
not considered acceptable in 2004. But we better accept it
and quickly. And if we make it our only cause and unconditional
victory is achieved, our leadership and our troops and our home-front
supporters of their mission will be known as another "Greatest Generation."
Bruce
Herschensohn teaches foreign policy at the Pepperdine University
School of Public Policy and is the author of Passport (Simon
& Schuster, 2003 ). He is a Member of the Centers Board
of Directors. This article originally appeared in the May 12, 2004,
edition of the Los Angeles Times. It is reprinted here by
permission.
[Posted
May 25, 2004]
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