TIME TO REFOCUS

“On September 11, 2001, our guard was down. America vowed that morning that we would never let that happen again. And yet, after five years many of us have grown weary of maintaining our defenses. America is in danger of losing sight of the enemy. (Many of us already have.) We have become so distracted by the political fights over how to defend ourselves that we seem to have forgotten why we need to. Today would be a good time to stop bickering and remember that we are all Americans, and therefore all targeted by a resolute army of fanatical warriors. The enemy does not care if we are Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, believer or atheist. It just wants us defeated. Polls report that more than a third of Americans, and nearly half of New Yorkers, believe that our own government either orchestrated the attacks or deliberately allowed them to happen. Such insanity can only be spread in a society that has lost its bearings. We must refocus on our common enemy: the Islamic radicals who want to establish their own despotic empire and view us as the most important obstacle in their path. America was attacked five years ago by agents of radical Islam. Their successors are fighting us in Iraq and Afghanistan and awaiting their chance to wound us again on our own soil. That is not a fantasy. It is the world in which we all live. Despite discouragements and setbacks, America can win this new and challenging war. But only if we fight the right enemy.”

—The New Hampshire Union Leader