Nation should go to war if needed

Most likely, I'll change my opinion in about 48 hours when I'll have calmed down, but the events of Tuesday have pushed my rage button, and I'm going to use this column to vent.

September 11, 2001: the day that the abominable actions of "faceless cowards" changed the face of America forever. An act of war was executed on the soil of the United States by unknown terrorists and that act shall not go unpunished.

Countless are dead and the unsung heroes of the New York and Washington, D.C., rescue teams continue to fight unrelentingly to save those still living in the rubble. We shall not dishonor their memories by standing idly by while terrorists use death and destruction to exercise their political ideologies.

These terrorists are enemies of freedom. They wish to kill all those who oppose them and feel that they are heroes for striking deep into the belly of the capitalist infidel.

These terrorist leaders are so absorbed in their vanity and self-aggrandizement that they brainwash men, women and children into sacrificing their lives to further their cause. It is my opinion that these terrorists cannot be allowed to exist in a world where the values that they seek to destroy are the betterment of humanity and freedom for all.

This is not an attack on the United States; it is an attack on democracy, the free world, and the citizens fortunate enough to enjoy it.

Last night President Bush made the announcement that not only the terrorists themselves are responsible but the governments that harbor them as well. This is a brilliant policy. It assures the public that we will unleash the fury of the American military might on the responsible parties and provides a platform to extinguish the forces of terrorism that may arise in the future.

The terrorist group that spawned the individuals who committed the abomination of Tuesday should be eliminated. Perhaps some of them would not be directly guilty, but they supported the avenue that the criminals took toward New York. And those who supported the men who committed the attack are as accountable as the attackers themselves.

This is why it is righteous that the governments of these rogue nations be targets as well. Not only will it punish the persons responsible for providing the terrorists protection and land with which they prepared for the very despicable act that was committed Tuesday — it sends a warning to all terrorist nations, a statement that future harboring of terrorists will invoke the full force of the greatest and most advanced military the Earth has ever known.

I don't believe that we should stop there though. I believe that not only should we go to war with the responsible parties and their governments, but all the terrorists and all of their governments that exist in the world today. The forces of humanity and freedom should ally themselves against the specter of civilian death and ruthless slaughter in a battle to save humanity.

We must crush the forces of terror with one swift stroke, showing the world that opposition to freedom will not be tolerated, whatever their pitiful reasoning.

If, say, Osama bin Laden, is captured and his terrorist network destroyed, who is to say that he won't be viewed as a martyr by remaining terrorist forces, which will only strengthen their resolve to duplicate the tragedy which took place on Tuesday. These forces stand against freedom and the advancement of humanity, and they should be obliterated from the face of the Earth much the same way a deadly virus is obliterated from a human body.

Should we go to war over this? Absolutely. Should we risk world war over this? If need be, yes. Democracies across the globe are at risk from these terrorists, not just America. In fact, England halted all of their air traffic much the same as the United States, and France and Germany lowered their flags to half-mast, joining in our sorrow. The forces of freedom and democracy should ally arms against the persons who seek to destroy them and the governments who support them.

Although democracy and free enterprise are certainly not the perfect forms of government and economics, they are unquestionably better than systems that value how lavishly their leaders live over the well being of their citizens. Nowhere on Earth can common people have the rights and freedoms that can be exercised within our borders. And we should not sacrifice the security of freedom simply to avoid war. The safety of democracy and its people must be preserved. For if a man cannot feel safe, he can never, NEVER be free.

John Wakefield is a senior in the School of Liberal Arts. He can be reached at opinions@purdueexponent.org.

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