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War is a terrible thing.
Right now we are raining terror on the world. We have our guns blazing while our bombs are dropping and we are taking the lives of the enemy. There are women and children who will not see their husbands and fathers again. There are bodies that will be lost and never found. There will be empty graves.
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War creates horror. War disrupts life. War brings dark nightmares into reality and presents new awfulness to our existence. It is not a pretty thing. It never was meant to be a pretty thing. For if war was meant to be pleasant, no one would fear it.
I heard on the news today that we dropped the largest bomb in our arsenal for the second time in the war. I saw the old test footage display such mass destruction that I was sure nothing could survive such a blast. Dental records would probably become useless after such a detonation. The anchor explained that it was for "getting even the most entrenched territorial army." I'm sure a blast of that magnitude would collapse any underground installation upon impact, sealing the enemy soldiers in their subterranean headquarters. Making a catacomb into a coffin.
Yes, war is a terrible thing. It is suppose to be. Being terrible is what keeps people and nations from wanting to fight one. Being terrible is its key element to being a deterrent. Knowing that it will cost lives creates its power. For to fight a war, you must concede the possibility that you may loose and that the life you cost will be your own. This is what kept Russia and the United States at bay for so many years.
When blood is spilled and lives are taken, we have to remember why we do it. Why we fight against our enemy. Why we take a stand and say, "No more. Not today. Enough is enough. You've gone to far and we consider your actions an act of war." We have to remember the core belief that holds us together and yet apart from the enemy.
It's easy to take the side of the peace. It's easy to believe that all conflict can be resolved peacefully. It's easy to put our faith in the good of people and mankind. It's what everyone would like to believe. It's the way everybody would like to world to be. It's difficult to come to the understanding that sometimes force is necessary. Sometimes one must go to war to resolve the issue. When the enemy is willing to take your life, you have two choices: Give your life to them, or fight to keep it for yourself.
We can debate what brought us here till our lips turn blue and our lungs grow weary from breathing out the gallons of hot air. We can analyze the history of the conflict and what produced the destruction of the World Trade Center and took thousands of lives. I believe it is important to do so. But we should not use that as an excuse. We should not use our past, wrongful or not, as an excuse not to end this madness.
We should not spend our time writing letters to the Taliban ordering their surrender and pleading to Afghanistan to extradite Osama Bin Laden. The time for peaceful resolve is over. They have come toe to toe with us and then stepped over the line. They have declared that they are willing to take our lives. We had a decision to make and we made the right one. We shall fight to keep our lives. Going in and removing not only them, but any terrorist group that follows the same murderous conspiracies is the right thing to do, and something that justifies war.
War is a terrible thing, and we use it to remove terrible people.
*Look for Mr. Sweeney's article "If it hurts when you do that, don't do that." later this week.
**The opinions expressed in Weekly Commentary are those of Mr. Sweeney and his alone. Any attempt at finding sanity or logic in his rantings are feeble, at best.
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