A Response to Leonard Pitts' Column "Six Years to Here"

Leonard Pitts column “Six Years to Here” (September 10, 2007) demonstrates clearly that there is no resolve six years after the 9/11 attacks. But he tries to make the case that the resolve, once strong, has disappeared. Many of us have too late realized that the “resolve” Pitts speaks of never really existed.

The “telling difference” Pitts refers to between 9/11/01 and 12/7/41 does in fact have to do with a “political machine” that has “duped the nation,” but it isn’t the Bush Administration. Consider that:

Six years ago, Democrats voted to empower President Bush to prosecute the War on Terrorism “anywhere the terrorists were;”

Six years ago, Democrats recognized the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, even insisting on a Congressional vote to authorize military action in 2003 though it was legally unnecessary;

Six years ago, Democrats voted overwhelmingly with Republicans to authorize the Patriot Act to help our intelligence services be able to detect enemy threats before they produced more 9/11’s;

Six years ago, Democrats joined hands with Republicans and sang “God Bless America” on the Capitol steps;

However,

In the last five years, the chief aim of Democrats has been to win back their power, not to win the War on Terrorism;

In the last five years, Democrats have revised history, claiming “there is no war on terrorism;” or that there “is no connection between Iraq and the War on Terrorism,” though they originally made the connection themselves;

In the last five years, Democrats have attempted to give constitutional rights to enemy combatants, while attempting to prosecute our military personnel in the execution of their duties to wage war;

In the last five years, Democrats have tried to undermine every step to secure our homeland from our enemies, chipping away at top secret programs or divulging them publicly to our enemies through the media;

In the last five years, one party is winning elections, while attempting to assure that our nation is losing the war, never missing a chance to undercut the War Effort for political gain and claiming to “support the troops” but not “the mission.”

Yes indeed, some of us Americans were duped. We believed that Liberals would finally recognize that there were evil people in the world who wanted to kill us, and they wanted to fight them. We believed that our survival as a nation was now more important to them than the next election. We believed we could count on their standing beside us in the fight. We believed the illusion. We bought the act.

My Dad, in the aftermath of Vietnam, once said, “Pray the Democrats aren’t on your side in the next real war.” His words were prophetic.

J. Dale Weaver, M. Div.