While America sleeps

Posted: June 8, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: Eilhys England contributed to this column.
2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Wake up, America – we're at war! And we're not talking about a limited,
one-time shootout confined to Afghanistan and Iraq, where we'll hopefully wear
down the guerrilla enemy and our troops will come marching home.

We're engaged in a global war, a long-term conflict against a stateless Islamic
movement that's been scoring hits against the USA in the name of Allah since
the 1983 truck-bomb murder of 241 of our Marines and sailors in Beirut,
Lebanon. The alarm sounded decades ago – not on 9-11, as so many uninformed
Americans hold. We just slept through it, as well as through subsequent
assaults – Beirut to Pan Am 103 to World Trade Center I to the USS Cole –
that have become increasingly violent and more frequent through the years.

SNIP>
And we'd better get cracking immediately – before the next 9-11 blisters in
and takes an even bloodier toll.

Col. David H. Hackworth, author of his new best-selling "Steel My Soldiers'
Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About Face," has seen duty or reported as a
sailor, soldier and military correspondent in nearly a dozen wars and conflicts
– from the end of World War II to the recent fights against international
terrorism.

True, Bush & Company responded smartly to 9-11 by jump-starting the

of Homeland Security, thundering into Afghanistan, blowing the Taliban out

business and sending al-Qaida scurrying to the hills. But then came the
invasion of Iraq - our country's biggest military miscalculation to date -
where we virtually ignored the main military objective of destroying

as well as the important socioeconomic opportunity to rebuild Afghanistan

the same sort of shining example for the Muslim world that West Germany

was for the Soviet-bloc states.

While America sleeps

Posted: June 8, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: Eilhys England contributed to this column.
2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Wake up, America – we're at war! And we're not talking about a limited,
one-time shootout confined to Afghanistan and Iraq, where we'll hopefully wear
down the guerrilla enemy and our troops will come marching home.

We're engaged in a global war, a long-term conflict against a stateless Islamic
movement that's been scoring hits against the USA in the name of Allah since
the 1983 truck-bomb murder of 241 of our Marines and sailors in Beirut,
Lebanon. The alarm sounded decades ago – not on 9-11, as so many uninformed
Americans hold. We just slept through it, as well as through subsequent
assaults – Beirut to Pan Am 103 to World Trade Center I to the USS Cole –
that have become increasingly violent and more frequent through the years.

This is already America's longest war, and certainly the Judeo-Christian
world's most crucial conflict since World War II – when Hitler, Tojo and
Mussolini also were determined to erase every value, every concept, every
belief we hold dear. And there's no doubt in my military mind that America and
our allies will still be fighting this ruthless, relentless, radical terrorist
enemy on the hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I, the 20th-century
conflict that was supposed to end all wars.

That's because international Islamic religious fanatics have the same goal as
the Axis fascists – the destruction of our way of life. Their plan is to
return the entire world – not just the Middle East – to the days of the
caliphate and either convert all of us so-called infidels into born-again
Islamic believers or kill us.

Our fumbling government's response since Beirut – during both Republican and
Democratic administrations – has been to cut and run, or to flat ignore this
growing threat, apparently hoping it would go away. Or, occasionally, our
leaders would retaliate against a terrorist attack with a few missiles or an
airstrike accompanied by the standard barrage of toothless threats.

Meanwhile, the international terrorist movement has only been getting stronger,
acquiring catastrophic weapons and developing bolder tactics while its
dedicated operators have become more cunning and more organized, expanding and
setting up in virtually every nation in the world.

True, Bush & Company responded smartly to 9-11 by jump-starting the Department
of Homeland Security, thundering into Afghanistan, blowing the Taliban out of
business and sending al-Qaida scurrying to the hills. But then came the
invasion of Iraq – our country's biggest military miscalculation to date –
where we virtually ignored the main military objective of destroying al-Qaida,
as well as the important socioeconomic opportunity to rebuild Afghanistan into
the same sort of shining example for the Muslim world that West Germany once
was for the Soviet-bloc states.

Fortunately, it's still not too late to develop a comprehensive global strategy
to eliminate our real enemy. This new direction might not be great for the
warmongers, neoconservatives and war profiteers, but it would go a long way
toward giving all of our grandkids a future the way our World War II victory
gave one to my generation and my kids.

Of course, it's imperative that we stabilize Iraq and quickly reduce our armed
role there. But we simultaneously need to reorganize our military forces to
fight the war at hand, shed both the Cold War thinking and the structure of our
active, Reserve and National Guard components – and understand who our
primary enemy is and the true nature of the war in which we're engaged.

"Never underestimate the enemy," writes former White House terrorism czar
Richard Clarke in his brilliant book "Against All Enemies." "Our current enemy
is in for the long haul. They are smart and patient. Defeating them will take
creativity and imagination, as well as energy. It will be the struggle of the
friends of freedom and civil liberties around the world."

We citizens must drop the denial, apathy and foggy thinking that's gotten us
into this mess, take charge of our government – which has irresponsibly
ignored this threat to our national security for 21 years – and finally
answer the wake-up call.

And we'd better get cracking immediately – before the next 9-11 blisters in
and takes an even bloodier toll.

Col. David H. Hackworth, author of his new best-selling "Steel My Soldiers'
Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About Face," has seen duty or reported as a
sailor, soldier and military correspondent in nearly a dozen wars and conflicts
– from the end of World War II to the recent fights against international
terrorism.

While America sleeps

Posted: June 8, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: Eilhys England contributed to this column.
2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Wake up, America – we're at war! And we're not talking about a limited,
one-time shootout confined to Afghanistan and Iraq, where we'll hopefully
wear down the guerrilla enemy and our troops will come marching home.

We're engaged in a global war, a long-term conflict against a stateless
Islamic movement that's been scoring hits against the USA in the name of
Allah since the 1983 truck-bomb murder of 241 of our Marines and sailors
in Beirut, Lebanon. The alarm sounded decades ago – not on 9-11, as so
many uninformed Americans hold. We just slept through it, as well as
through subsequent assaults – Beirut to Pan Am 103 to World Trade Center I
to the USS Cole – that have become increasingly violent and more frequent
through the years.

This is already America's longest war, and certainly the Judeo-Christian
world's most crucial conflict since World War II – when Hitler, Tojo and
Mussolini also were determined to erase every value, every concept, every
belief we hold dear.

And there's no doubt in my military mind that America
and our allies will still be fighting this ruthless, relentless, radical
terrorist enemy on the hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I,
the 20th-century conflict that was supposed to end all wars.

That's because international Islamic religious fanatics have the same goal
as the Axis fascists – the destruction of our way of life.

Their plan is
to return the entire world – not just the Middle East – to the days of the
caliphate and either convert all of us so-called infidels into born-again
Islamic believers or kill us.

Our fumbling government's response since Beirut – during both Republican
and Democratic administrations – has been to cut and run, or to flat
ignore this growing threat, apparently hoping it would go away. Or,
occasionally, our leaders would retaliate against a terrorist attack with
a few missiles or an airstrike accompanied by the standard barrage of
toothless threats.

Meanwhile, the international terrorist movement has only been getting
stronger, acquiring catastrophic weapons

and developing bolder tactics
while its dedicated operators have become more cunning and more organized,
expanding and setting up in virtually every nation in the world.

True, Bush & Company responded smartly to 9-11 by jump-starting the
Department of Homeland Security, thundering into Afghanistan, blowing the
Taliban out of business and sending al-Qaida scurrying to the hills.

But
then came the invasion of Iraq – our country's biggest military
miscalculation to date – where we virtually ignored the main military
objective of destroying al-Qaida, as well as the important socioeconomic
opportunity to rebuild Afghanistan into the same sort of shining example
for the Muslim world that West Germany once was for the Soviet-bloc
states.

Fortunately, it's still not too late to develop a comprehensive global
strategy to eliminate our real enemy. This new direction might not be
great for the warmongers, neoconservatives and war profiteers, but it
would go a long way toward giving all of our grandkids a future the way
our World War II victory gave one to my generation and my kids.

Of course, it's imperative that we stabilize Iraq and quickly reduce our
armed role there. But we simultaneously need to reorganize our military
forces to fight the war at hand, shed both the Cold War thinking and the
structure of our active, Reserve and National Guard components – and
understand who our primary enemy is and the true nature of the war in
which we're engaged.

"Never underestimate the enemy," writes former White House terrorism czar
Richard Clarke in his brilliant book "Against All Enemies." "Our current
enemy is in for the long haul. They are smart and patient. Defeating them
will take creativity and imagination, as well as energy. It will be the
struggle of the friends of freedom and civil liberties around the world."

We citizens must drop the denial, apathy and foggy thinking that's gotten
us into this mess, take charge of our government – which has irresponsibly
ignored this threat to our national security for 21 years – and finally
answer the wake-up call.

And we'd better get cracking immediately – before the next 9-11 blisters
in and takes an even bloodier toll.

Col. David H. Hackworth, author of his new best-selling "Steel My
Soldiers' Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About Face," has seen duty or
reported as a sailor, soldier and military correspondent in nearly a dozen
wars and conflicts – from the end of World War II to the recent fights
against international terrorism.