March 6, 2002
Death of Troops Should Strengthen Resolve
By
Tom Bevan
The news Monday that seven United States soldiers died while
fighting al-Qaeda operatives outside of Gardez, Afghanistan is
saddening. Most likely, there will be many more good American
men whose blood will be shed in the long and difficult War on
Terror. But in today's world, public reaction to casualties is
as important a part of the war effort as the the troops on the
ground doing battle. Make no mistake, those who hate America around
the world are watching, waiting to see how America reacts and
whether our resolve as a nation will be strengthened or weakened.
There is no question that the loss of American life will cause
some to bemoan the inhumanity of war and call for it to end. There
is nothing more powerful for the anti-war left than pictures of
Americans in body bags and flag-draped military funerals. They
will no doubt draw comparisons to Vietnam, questioning the strategy
and execution of the war and asking "how many must die?"
But this is not Vietnam. We are not defending a tiny democracy
half way around the world from communism but protecting the people
of the United States from future attacks at home. This war is
not grounded in theoretical foreign policy arguments but in a
simple, brutal truth: if we do not act, innocent American civilians
will die.
And while the pictures of dead US soldiers will be grim and fresh,
we should not let today's emotion distract us from images of yesterday's
tragedy or visions of tomorrow's nightmare. It would be foolish,
and it would dishonor the memory of the soldiers we mourn.
As Charles Krauthammer, Tom Friedman and others have insightfully
observed, strength and power speak volumes in the Arab world -
anything less is a sign of weakness. We cannot forget that even
beyond the members of al-Qaeda, who are sworn to die fighting
American infidels, a large portion of the Muslim world dislikes
us greatly. It will take a long time and a lot of work to undo
the damage America has suffered in public opinion in the Arab
world. But even as we undertake this task there is only one option:
until they like us they must fear us.
We instill this fear by letting them know that not only are we
stronger militarily, but that we are more committed than they
are to the principals for which we fight. Ours is not a war of
aggression, of hegemony, or of religious domination. It is a proactive
war of self defense. Our war cares for nothing but preserving
a peaceful, open, and tolerant society here at home.
The death of U.S. soldiers, whether they number 7 or 7,000, is
a tragedy. Our duty as a country is to accept these casualties
with a public display of emotionless fortitude, to add their number
to those who died on September 11 and return to the task of eradicating
terrorism with our effort redoubled. It honors our dead soldiers
more, not less, and it will, with God's help, save America from
enduring more losses in the future.
Tom
Bevan writes for RealClearPolitics.
