Correction: WE are winning

Submitted by Peter Newton (United States), Aug 7, 2002 at 12:33

Every democracy has a grave responsibility. We are still a minority in the world. The hand of freedom does not extend far beyond Western borders, and while our alliances are many, our friends are few.

Israel is a lone bastion of our ideals and values in a hostile region. Forget any political agreements, or treaties. America is bound to Israel by our beliefs and values. There is far more strength in that than any treaty with a king or dictator. All eyes are on this tiny country. The success or failure of Israel means a great deal more than the simple destruction of a small country, and a minority people. It means the success or failure of peace and freedom for those who do not know what it is to be free, or live in peace. If this small country is destroyed, or caves in to the will of terrorists, it would be a tremendous blow to freedom everywhere.

For the sake of every free man and woman on this planet, and especially for every Arab living in a totalitarian society, WE cannot allow terrorism to succeed in forcing any political change from a democracy whatsoever. Each concession or capitulation is a tacit admission that democracy is not the best hope for human beings, but rather brute force and lust for power is to be our only form of workable government. To do so would be to signal that peaceful resolution to every political, economic, and social problem is inferior to naked aggression and violence. It would be a return to the "might makes right" philosophy of the Dark Ages. All we have worked for would be set back decades, if not centuries. This is the time to be strong like no other time in history. Here we have the opportunity to end the next world war before it has begun. Here we have the opportunity to defeat totalitarian violence before it touches another child, and here we can state unequivocally that fear and violence will not be tolerated in our free world.

This is not Israel's fight alone. It is the fight of every freedom and peace loving person who lives and breathes. This is a fight that cannot be lost, no matter what the cost. WE are winning, and we will continue to win until those responsible for this monstrous terrorism realize that a democracy is indeed unbeatable, and freedom is humankind's natural state. Like a Chinese handcuff, the harder one pulls, the stronger it becomes. The more we are hurt, the more we unite. The greater our sorrow, the more we are prepared to endure. These are simple lessons that we have had to relearn in almost every generation.

When we sit back, and take stock of all that we have accomplished, and all that remains to be accomplished, the one thought that must be in the forefronts of all our minds is that freedom, and democracy make everything possible. Without them all is lost. We cannot blink or take one single step back. We must be who we are, never surrender, and stand together in the divine light of our shared beliefs and values. "WE" is all we need, and it is how we are going to prevail.

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