Questions for America to Ponder

David Cheney
Publisher - Ordeal of Liberty
October 8, 2004

On the morning of September 12, 2001, a large majority of American citizens understood that our nation had been attacked by a well financed and well organized terrorist entity and that we needed to attack and destroy it before it destroyed us. It's inconceivable to me how after three years, that a certain percentage of our population have apparently lost this basic understanding. Is our national attention span that short ? On that same morning in September of 2001, we factually and instinctively knew that this terrorist entity which was attempting to detroy America had bases of operations all over the world, and that our war on terror would be a long affair, complex in dimension, and be global in reach.

What has changed in the past three years ? Why have so many Americans forgotten that the only successful method of winning a war on terror is to destroy it before it destroys us ? Why are so many Americans simply eager to defensively avoid another attack, instead of going after it and stopping it before it can be carried out ? Has the war in Iraq distracted us from the broader global war on terror of which it is a part ? How is it that in a well informed America, so many of us have failed to accept the documented link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and the latters goal of destroying us ? There are at least 10 references which link the two in the exhaustive 9/11 Commission Report. The words from the unsealed indictment against Usama Bin Laden in the United States District Court - Southern District of New York on November 4th of 1998 are also chilling:

"4. Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezballah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq."

One of the references from the 9/11 report is very clear:

"A Defense Department paper for the Camp David briefing book on the strategic concept for the war on terrorism specified three priority targets forinitial action: al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Iraq. It argued that of the three,al Qaeda and Iraq posed a strategic threat to the United States. Iraq�s long-standing involvement in terrorism was cited, along with its interest in weapons of mass destruction."

Having read the two documents (the 9/11 report and the unsealed indictment of Osama Bin Laden), the average American with any degree of common sense would have to have followed the logical thought process and footprints of George Bush when the decision was made to invade Iraq, to free the citizens there, and rid the world of one more terrorist training ground.

I cannot understand the thought process of so many Americans at this critical time in our nations history. I have so many questions: Have we as a nation lost our ability to think logically and rationally ? Is our national attention span that short ? Is there "evil" and "good" on this earth ? Why are so many of us convinced that the "evil" is us, and that the "good" are the enemies of freedom ? Are we so overwhelmed by the size, complexity, and scope of the enemy which is attempting to destroy us, that we freeze up and decide to stop fighting it ? Is America worth fighting for ? Will the deaths of a thousand brave soldiers in Iraq stop us in our tracks ? Are we willing to change executive leadership in America at this critical time, when it has done relatively (if not extremely) well ? Are we up to the challenges which lay before us ? Sixty five years ago, in very similar circumstances, America faced the same challenges. I would submit that America needs to look at the facts, answer these questions to itself, and proceed ahead.

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David Cheney
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