Great Satan or Great Savior? I originally wrote this in February of 2003. It was published in the Alvord-Sunset Gazette in Alvord, Texas.

Great Satan or Great Savior?

This thought occurred to me recently:

If the French and Germans and the rest of our "friends" and "allies" along with the "anti-war," hate-America Left truly wanted to avoid war then they would support our efforts against Baghdad and join the coalition with our true friends.

The surest way to secure peace is to prepare for war. The only thing that might possibly bring Iraq into compliance with the will of the world is the threat of destruction. Appeasement will not do it. Coddling will not do it. Portraying our President as a wild-eyed cowboy itching for a fight will not do it. Painting Hussein as a poor, maligned victim of American arrogance will not do it. These things only strengthen his belligerence and his resolve to delay and resist. These things only give him more time and more support to gain the material, technology and capability to threaten the entire world. Do we really want to wait until he has the upper hand? Until he can hold the world hostage to his will? I can remember when we all lived in fear of a global, nuclear war. I remember what the phrase "two minutes to midnight" meant. I for one don't want to go back there and I certainly don't want my children to live there.

The only motive these enemies of freedom have for their words and action is the slandering and weakening of America and all freedom loving people. America does not conquer other nations, we liberate them. America does not occupy other nations, we rebuild them (or build them up for the first time). America does not oppress other nations, we build schools and hospitals. America does not terrorize the children of other countries, our soldiers build them playgrounds and collect clothing for them, usually with money from their own pockets. Americans do not murder the men or rape the women of other nations, we teach them the sanctity of human life and respect for woman and children, the elderly and weak.

America is not the Great Satan, we are the Great Savior. We saved Europe from the Hun in World War I. We saved the entire world during World War II. Let the truth of that sink in. America saved the world. Yes, we were part of a great alliance. Yes, other countries made significant contributions of lives and materiel. But the war was definitely going in the favor of the Axis powers before we got in the fight. Europe, Asia and much of Africa were already overrun. England, though fighting valiantly, could not have held out indefinitely. Only with America's great industrial might devoted to the production of war materials, only with our men fighting, bleeding and dying, only with our men and women on the homefront producing weapons and supplies was the tide turned and the day won. We saved the French from the Nazis. We saved the German people from Hitler. We saved all of Asia and the Pacific region from Japanese Imperialism. America saved the world.

We saved South Korea from Communist domination in the 1950s. We saved most of Europe from Communist invasion throughout the Cold War. Our resolve and power destroyed the Soviet Union. We saved the people of Panama from Noriega. We saved Kuwait and the rest of Southwest Asia from Saddam Hussein. We saved the Balkans from Milosevic. We saved Haiti from Cedras. We ensured the delivery of food to starving Somalis. We provided medical equipment and supplies to the reforming Soviet states. We conduct counterdrug operations throughout the hemisphere to rid the world of the scourge of illegal narcotics. These and countless other operations were conducted in the 20th century alone at a cost of millions of our dollars and many thousands of American lives. None of these were fought so that we could steal oil or annex countries. They were fought because someone must do the right thing.

Perhaps the Germans have forgotten "Operation Vittles," the Berlin Airlift. In June 1948 the Soviets blocked all land routes into Berlin in attempt to cut off the city and drive out the western powers. They tried to blackmail us through the starvation of Berlin's citizens. Between June 1948 and September 1949 US and British planes delivered 2.3 million tons of food, coal and medicine to the citizens of Berlin through 280,000 flights. 75% of the goods were delivered by the US - at a cost of 31 American lives. The Soviets wanted to starve the people of Berlin. We wanted to save them, and we did. We did it because somebody had to do the right thing.

By the way, Soviets are what we used to call the Russians, the new friends of the Germans in their diplomatic war against America. Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.


  ¶ Friday, July 02, 2004