Allow our military to fight the terrorists

Albert Einstein said, “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”  He believed World War III would be nuclear annihilation returning us to the Stone Age.  Is he correct? Will there even be a World War III?  If there is a World War III, what type of conflict will it be?  By the way, what is a world war?  Merriam-Webster defines it as, “a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world”.  Is World War III on the horizon?  Could the instability of the Middle East be the fuse to ignite it?

We are now militarily involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Israel and the Palestinians are in a continuous war.  The Soviet Union is showing signs of reverting to the pre-Reagan days.  North Korea threatens nuclear development.  Iran and Syria are terrorist nations.  Iran is likely still trying to develop nuclear weapons.  Pakistan’s volatility changes daily.  The world is significantly unstable. 

If we are led into a world war will it be conventional armies with millions of troops killed?  Will it be a nuclear war?  Or will it be something unconventional, not foreseen by Einstein?  What are the tactics of our 21st century enemies, the 21st century terrorists?  They use suicide bombers.  They intentionally target civilians. They use their faith and their god to justify all they do.  Nothing is too atrocious, nothing is off limits, and nothing is too evil.  We spend our time debating the humanity of waterboarding while the enemy trains women and children as suicide bombers!

Are we too myopic?  Could we be failing to recognize what is occurring in the rest of the world?  Are we already meeting Webster’s definition of a world war?  The definition does not require nations to formally declare war; only that “most of the principal nations of the world” are engaged in the war.  Maybe, just maybe, we have missed the fact we are in World War III right now and this war will be much longer and more difficult than the two previous world wars.

How do we fight an enemy who has no country, who is unconcerned with the Geneva Convention; an enemy who sees nothing they do as an atrocity?  Do we follow the advice of those who advocate leaving the terrorists alone believing they will then leave us alone?  Maybe we follow the advice of those who advocate establishing a dialogue with the terrorists.  Can either of these options succeed? No. The terrorists believe they must continue unabated.  They believe they must continue until we are annihilated. 

This is World War III, an unconventional world war.  Moreover, it already involves “most of the principal nations of the world”, who have dealt with terrorism for many years.  Many countries have suffered at the hands of terrorists.  Terrorism is already worldwide.  The United States is just one of the last to be targeted on its own soil.

Sadly, there is only one way to deal with terrorism.  The terrorists must be found and killed.  They have no morals, no ethics, and no understandable values; only justifications to do whatever they want.  Although we should work with the United Nations trying to bring the world powers together to deal with this evil, we must not allow the United Nations to dictate our foreign policy for our national security.  That is a responsibility of our federal government and that duty cannot be abdicated.  911 clearly showed what the enemy is willing to do.  We no longer have the luxury of staying uninvolved, of sitting on the sidelines of the world.  We must proactively seek out the terrorists and kill them before more mayhem occurs on our soil.

This is a war and needs to be run as a war.  Our political leaders need to define the objective which is finding and killing terrorists anywhere in the world.  We need to inform all nations we expect them to eliminate the terrorists in their country and if they elect not to do so, we will send in teams of our unconventional warriors to kill the terrorists in their country.

Only two groups of people can prevent us from winning this war.  The first would be a President or Congress who feels they are better able to manage the war than our military leaders.  The second would be the American people not willing to accept what must be done and to support what must be done.

This is World War III.  And it was brought to our soil.   It has already killed thousands of our civilians and thousands of our military troops.  We know what must be done.  Our leaders need to make the decision and then step aside allowing the military to reach the defined goal.

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