01 Jun 2004 Marcus Dixon: A Small Example of a Greater Problem, by Lisa Fritsch

Is it possible to measure the political benefits and social impacts of winning the Cold War? The War on Terror?

President Ronald Reagan was never given due credit by his liberal peers for winning this psychological – and sometimes physical – war. They were against his defiant stances. They suggested disarming. Americans and others worldwide now benefit because of his persistence. It’s impossible to estimate the economic, political and social damage the world may have witnessed if he listened to the pessimists.

President George W. Bush’s challenge now is similar. The overthrow and capture of Saddam Hussein provides yet untold benefits that will also prove immeasurable. The liberals shadow their predecessors, suggesting abandoning the War on Terror. If the President follows the example of his conservative predecessors, however, future generations will reap the rewards of his firmness. The results will be apparent not only to Americans, Afghans and Iraqis, but the rest of the Middle East and the entire world as well.

As the world’s lone superpower – with financial, military and social influence unlike any other the world has witnessed – we are obvious targets of countries seeking to revive their once proud histories and fulfill their fantasies of regaining regional and worldwide influence. Others dislike our freedoms and want to restrain them. All dream of diminishing the leverage of the United States. Their methods could be economic, diplomatic or warlike, but their desired end is the degradation of the power and influence of the United States.

World history proves that our liberties and opportunities are unlike any ever known. The opportunities that we enjoy today must be defended for future generations.

Tenures of high stature and influence are relatively brief. Empires, dynasties and monarchies eventually end. We should be determined to ensure that the sands of freedom and opportunity don’t slip through our fingers as we bear the torch. We have to be diligent to preserve the rights we enjoy today. Freedom is something to protect from both internal as well as external forces.

Most liberals – no matter how noble their cause for world peace – lack the vision, understanding and foresight needed to ensure that long-term peace can be bequeathed to future generations.

Although Saddam’s nuclear ambitions haven’t been entirely proven, he has possessed and used chemical and biological weapons. His inventories of these weapons of mass destruction have not been accounted for. As Iraqi scientists disappear, Iranian enrichment materials are appearing. North Korea and China are proud to have nuclear capabilities. Other powers with fantasies of our demise also seek nuclear weapons.

Suggestions by liberals that we abandon the War on Terror make as much sense as their past advice to disarm during the height of the Cold War. Fortunately, we have leadership in place with the vision to reject such nonsense.

President Bush is targeted for ridicule because he is adamant about the significance of winning the War on Terror. Although foreign and domestic pressure to relent rises, the President must never fall prey to their biased recommendations. Winston Churchill once said, “People who are not prepared to do unpopular things and to defy clamor are not fit to be ministers in times of stress.”

President Bush deserves our gratitude for his leadership. Although we may never fully realize or appreciate the avoided outcomes, history will surely thank him if he stays the course.