Through the Misty Dawn - Editorial

The Coming Election Challenges the Electorate

Elections are a great privilege and they are also a big responsibility. The coming election is possibly the most important election of the past fifty years. It will decide which party controls both House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The election may also influence the direction this country takes in the war on terrorism. The singular most important fact about terrorism is the trend it takes. It seems to be spreading to many parts of an uncivilized world.  Terrorism does not require an army. It is low cost warfare.

The purpose of war is to bring the enemy to the negotiating table or to cause a total surrender. Typically a great military offensive is required. Punishment must be inflicted that causes the enemy to know the terrible cost of continuing the conflict. The devastation in Europe and Japan during WW II was unfathomable; nearly indescribable. Ultimately it brought the enemies of the Allies to the peace table. All previous wars had this same scenario.

During an ongoing conflict there is seldom diplomatic communication between the combatants. The punishment and devastation caused by one side causes the populace to communicate with the leaders of the army and bring influences for  peace. The price of the conflict is unbearable and too high. Terrorism has the unique characteristic of being invisible and elusive. Additionally it is unconscionable and merciless. It knows no rules of war.

The coming election could become a referendum on the Bush administration’s strategy to fight terrorism. It is difficult to evaluate the progress of this war. The biggest reason is the obvious difficulty in finding the enemy before it attacks. Complicating the issue is the presence of internal strife in Iraq; a civil war in effect. Thus the United States has two enemies that are strongly influencing American public opinion.

In the aftermath of the attack on the Twin Towers, the United States and its Allies have made the enemy pay a huge price. Afghanistan is now a fledgling democracy, as is Iraq. The price has been high and does not appear to have deterred the enemy. The continued attacks appear also to have a greater impact on public opinion in the United States rather than the Allied response effecting public opinion amongst the terrorists. We have failed to sufficiently punish the elusive enemy. That problem goes to a failure in our intelligence operations and a failure to educate, deter and inform the enemies and their supporters of our great determination. Because of the nature of terrorism it could be said that the issue is neither Democrat  or Republican.

One thing is certain. The increase in attacks and mounting loss of life is designed to affect the outcome of the elections here in the United States. Terrorists believe they will fare better under a Democratic controlled congress.  Very important issues arise at that potential fact. We must decide if we should allow the enemy to so influence our elections. We must also decide whether or not a Democratic controlled Congress can effect anything that would improve the complex and difficult situation. While Democrats campaign on changing the Allied strategy in the war against terrorism, they have offered absolutely nothing in the way of well conceived plans to improve the situation. We have no idea what is in their “bag”. The issue of ongoing terrorism afflicting this and future generations commands more than campaign slogans. If terrorism is not soundly defeated, future generations the world over will be subjugated to their whims and tyrannical ambitions.

The good thing about the coming election is the fact that the Bush Administration has been forced to review and analyze their strategy for fighting the enemy. Security is obviously a failing in the new Iraq. The absence of martial law and curfews in a country beset with daily murder squad killings in absolutely naïve. We have assumed the enemy would tire of its task and fade away. We have also failed to call upon our unlimited resources for surveillance and intelligence to ferret out the enemy. Five thousand infra-red cameras operating at night would be better than fifty dead bodies found day after day tortured and shot in the head. A thousand TV cameras being monitored 24 hours a day would be better. The cost would be far less than the thousands of airplanes required to win the war in the Pacific and in Europe during WW II. The Bush Administration and the Generals in Iraq need to understand that this war is more than Iraq’s war. Leaving security for Iraq’s people in the hands of incompetent and neophyte soldiers and police is a huge mistake when the real issue goes far beyond Iraq. The failings merely encourage the enemy to further attacks on innocent peoples.

This war is a greater threat to Democracy than WW II because it has the character of spreading across borders and continuing for endless decades to come. A political party that fails to understand the world wide significance of defeating terrorism does no service to this country; quite the contrary. Therefore, this election will be helpful if in fact the Bush Administration acknowledges the inadequacies of our present strategy in Iraq. We are on the defensive when we need to be on the offensive. The casualty numbers do not indicate we are winning the war. But we can turn the tide if we begin to understand this is a major world-wide conflict centered in Iraq and requiring the use of unlimited Allied resources such as were committed during WW II. There is no cheap way to win a war having worldly significance. Nor can we put the responsibility for winning on a newly formed government with new recruits.

No war has ever been won on the defensive.

RHE

.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this