Re-Engaging the War on Terrorism
Posted by StormWarning on 31 Aug 2008 at 08:17 am | Tagged as: 2001, Commentary, Editorial, Federal Policy, Jihad, National Security, Opinions, Patriotism, September 11
As we approach the 7 year mark post Sept 11th, Americans need to be reminded about the prupose of the War on Terrorism. Actually, we shouldn’t need it. But as President Bush prepares to leave office, he is seeking to re-affirm that we are at war with al Qaeda.
Sound strange? Well, I’ve been concerned about American complacency from when the last of the public funerals of those who died in the attacks. And yet, partly because of the passage of time, and partly because the focus of attention has been on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran as pieces of geography instead of battlegrounds in the war versus al Qaeda. It was al Qaeda that attacked us on September 11, 2001. It was al Qaeda that attacked us at the USS Cole and at the African embassies.
Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush’s advisers assert that many Americans may have forgotten that. So they want Congress to say so and “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”
The language, part of a proposal for hearing legal appeals from detainees at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, goes beyond political symbolism. Echoing a measure that Congress passed just days after the Sept. 11 attacks, it carries significant legal and public policy implications for Mr. Bush, and potentially his successor, to claim the imprimatur of Congress to use the tools of war, including detention, interrogation and surveillance, against the enemy, legal and political analysts say.
Some lawmakers are concerned that the administration’s effort to declare anew a war footing is an 11th-hour maneuver to re-establish its broad interpretation of the president’s wartime powers, even in the face of challenges from the Supreme Court and Congress.
If not in any other way, this Global War on Terrorism has been miserably mismanaged. September 11th was not and should not be treated as a singular event in history. Aside from the fact that other al Qaeda attacks pre-date Sept. 11th, the question now is how the war will be waged following the election of the next President
Perhaps the attempt to tuck language into legislation is a bit “funky,” but the fact is that too many Americans have lost focus. Many of those Americans are on Capitol Hill. Sadly my dear reader, we have lost our way in my opinion. Paraphrasing: if we forget history, it will repeat itself. We are at a cross roads in our Nation’s history. If we choose wisely, we may actually remain vigilent and remain prepared for the coming of the next attack on our Homeland. “Choose wisely grasshopper” when voting this November. There is only one real choise, and his name is John McCain.
Global War on Terrorism
