-Caveat Lector- http://www.sierratimes.com/archive/files/dec/27/venable.htm
At War Against a State Of Terror By Deborah Venable 12.27.01 Since we are officially at war with the State Of Terror, perhaps it is time we tried to seek an understanding of our enemy. We are at war with a �politically organized body of people,� as the applicable definition of the word, state, implies. This state transcends all other state boundaries, all cultures, all races, and all religions. This enemy is tremendous in size and scope, relentless in its goals of destruction, and absolutely heartless in its acts. These are people who are our enemies � evil people who deserve nothing less than our full commitment to defeat them. We cannot march half- heartedly into this war and expect victory to be ours. We must be able to identify and hold all these enemies accountable, and we dare not pull any punches. Anyone who uses terror as his weapon to overtake innocents is a coward. This was immediately and correctly identified as a component of the terrorist�s character. Add to that an animal-like recklessness, and you have the beginnings of a profile. A wild animal that depends on the ability to cause panic and rejects civilized behavior and authority continues to define the profile of a terrorist. A mindless coward � that is the short version. That is the enemy we must defeat. For any government to presume the ability to protect its citizens from this enemy is illogical and asinine. If we continue to expect that protection, we are fools. In each and every case of a terrorist�s foiled plans, you will not find a government mandate but rather you will see an individual�s resolve. In many cases perhaps, the individual was a government employee, but the employer did not mandate the individual�s natural sense that something was wrong. I am not talking about procedure here � I realize that procedures are indeed mandates. However, if procedure followed resulted in success at stopping terrorists� acts every time, you could make the case in favor of government dependency. You could also write off all the past terrorist attacks as bad dreams that never happened. Absent in those successful attacks was the individual resolve of one person to throw up a warning sign in time and follow through with a thorough investigation. We�ve heard enough hindsight to know this is true. Instead of being productive, this hindsight is fueling our future disaster if we continue to believe that government mandates can win the war with the State Of Terror. The intelligent parent teaches a child basic rules of self-protection from an early age. The parent realizes that he or she cannot be with the child every moment, so is errant to believe the child will be safe in his absence. Self-preservation is a natural instinct that should be encouraged and honed to a fine ability � not dulled by a sense of false security. Unfortunately, the errant parent and the errant government will dull the individual senses of child and citizenry with assurances that they can always be counted on if specific mandates are followed. Unless a child and a citizenry are encouraged to use individual strengths and wits, the terrorist will always have the upper hand. Unfortunately, for too long now, senses have been dulled to danger. Parents have insisted that the use of any violence is always wrong and officials have encouraged capitulation and surrender of individual sovereignty to criminal challenge. This is not the path to success in raising a wise child or in the defeat of terrorism. Terror has ruled the actions of far too many defeated people. We cannot defeat this enemy through actions mandated by fear. Fear can dull the senses and remove the ability to discriminate between right and wrong. No justification for wrong actions can be tolerated. Defense of individual sovereignty is the right action to take against this enemy. Life has value only if we recognize the quality of that life that terrorists seek to destroy. If we bend to the will of a terrorist, life has no value and probably will not survive anyway. If America continues to alter and diminish her quality and way of life, the Terrorist State will have won the war. We must defend against terror with recognition of the value of our sovereignty and a commitment to reclaim all that has been lost in the battle with this enemy. We have no right to expect victory from a position of weakness, and America is only as strong as her people. We have met the enemy, and we must not reside in a state of terror. Permission to reprint/republish granted, as long as you include the name of our site, the author, and our URL. www.SierraTimes.com All Sierra Times news reports, and all editorials are � 2002 SierraTimes.com (unless otherwise noted) SierraTimes.com� A Subsidiary of J.J. 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