A year ago today I entitled some remarks about the state of the resistance to Islamic jihad “December 7, 1944.” The point was that three years after World War II began for the U.S., it was less than a year away from ending. But we are now engaged in a longer, more complex conflict than even the one that engulfed the world after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By December 7, 1945, the war was over in Europe and Japan; but today, four years after this present war began, the conflict with those who attacked us on September 11, 2001 is not remotely close to over.
Tenacity and perseverance are called for now more than they ever have been in our nation’s history. So is — above all — a clear-eyed analysis of who is fighting us, why they are fighting, and what we must do to defeat them. Yet official Washington seems less disposed than ever to consider these questions, and the mainstream media (liberal and conservative) allows superficial analysis, fear and political correctness to keep these issues from being discussed.
As long as this continues, the prospects are not good. But there are signs of hope. Increasing numbers of Americans are unwilling to accept the falsehoods and half-truths that we are hearing about this grave crisis. Their numbers are growing. They will be heard.