To the Editor:When will the anti-war crowd realize how dangerous our enemy is? The terrorism threat has been growing since the Iranian Revolution and we are only now tackling it. We cannot permit terrorists who are eager to die to kill us to obtain nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Is that too difficult for the anti-war mentality to understand?
What did America do in the 1990s to prevent al Qaeda from becoming the global menace it now is? Nothing. For the past two decades, terrorist states have been preparing for a confrontation with America. They are allied against America and Islamic terrorist groups are proxy armies that al Qaeda established and control. The danger of terrorist states having weapons of mass destruction is nothing new. They’ve been acquiring them since the 1980s. It’s only now that a U.S. president is serious about ending that.
A policy of pre-emptively striking terrorists was advocated in the 1980s the “Schultz doctrine” but not implemented. Instead, terrorists were treated as criminals. Addressing these foreign threats was a low priority until 9/11. But if the Schultz doctrine became policy, the World Trade Center might still be standing.
While terrorist groups were spreading globally and their state sponsors were working on WMD programs, we sent twerps to Washington believing they will legislate away our societal problems. Like pathetic dependents, we spent decades whining how government should curtail our smoking, pay for our prescription drugs, save the spotted owl and fix all our moral and societal problems.
So Americans don’t understand the enemy’s ideology and goals, and what is at risk in this war. We are in over our heads because we don’t know our enemy. It’s time we shape up and swiftly and aggressively eliminate the terrorists or they will eliminate us. We’d better understand this, and fast.
Thomas Stelene
WCU Grad Student