Thursday, September 10, 2009

Surrender is Not an Option

By Alan Caruba

As one drove into New York from New Jersey in the years before 9/11, there was an ellipse of roadway that gently curved into the waiting entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. From there you could see the Twin Towers in the distance, across the river, dominating the lower end of Manhattan.

It bespoke the nation’s economic strength, its international outreach, its capacity to build two such impressive skyscrapers, made more so by their architectural simplicity. They gleamed in the rays of the Sun. They mirrored the silver Moon.

I had occasion to dine in Windows on the World restaurant several times, high atop one of the towers. A wall of windows ringed the restaurant and one could look at New Jersey on one side and Brooklyn on the other. A walk around that restaurant took in all the boroughs from that great height and there, down in the vast harbor, one could see the Statue of Liberty. So high up were you that it seemed a small thing from that distance.

If I wanted to strike at America’s confidence, America’s bravado, America’s dominance, I would have destroyed the Twin Towers and, of course, that is exactly what Osama bin Laden did.

Our response at the time was to drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan and, in the process, try to kill bin Laden. Neither objective has been achieved. That is because the Middle East is an ancient place enthralled by an ancient religion that roots all present actions in the Arab culture of the seventh century A.D. when it was invented by Mohammed.

They have made little progress in modernizing thought or action. They were and they are the barbarians at the gates.

The Twin Towers were all about modernity and the future. Islam is all about the past and about the demand that it be imposed on the present and the future. These are people who journey to Mecca in order to circle a structure housing a stone!

Every year when September 11th comes around, we must remind ourselves of the triumph of our Constitution, our dedication to freedom and liberty, and our capacity to defeat the enemies of these inalienable rights.

Our grandparents defeated the Nazis and the imperialistic Japanese. Then they and our parents held steadfast against the Soviets for nearly five decades. We fought in Korea and we fought in Vietnam. The current generation’s bravest and best have been fighting our enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We must draw on the reservoir of courage they bequeathed us and, for my part, we must never let lose of the anger we felt eight years ago when a handful of evil men attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, with yet another intended target.

Al Qaeda? Hunt them! Find them! Kill them!

Do not listen to the appeasers, the Blame America crowd. Surrender is not an option.

7 comments:

Necromancer said...

Hi Alan,
It's "Extreme Prejudice"

"Honor,Courage,Country"

"Semper Fi"

Red said...

I remember.

Ayrdale said...

You are so right Alan.
"There is a tide in the affairs of men" that is running out for radical Islam, irrespective of domestic appeasers and sympathisers. GWB started the flow, and it will continue in time...it is up to all of us to show willing.
Again, I have shamelessly lifted your post to my blog.
Thanks.

Alan Caruba said...

You are always welcome to share my writings with visitors to your blog. I regard it as a compliment.

Joe Texan said...

"Everything I need to know about Islam, I learned on 9/11."

Guy said...

I know I'll never forget the sinking feeling that overwhelmed me when I turned on the TV that morning. As a pilot, I instinctively knew what was happening ... you don't "accidentally" hit the tallest building in a major city in perfectly clear Autumn skies. I was watching live when the second plane hit, confirming my fears. All I could think about was how horrible it would be for the passengers and the office workers, who instantly found themselves engulfed in that inferno. Then, I saw the people jumping ....

We can never forget what these people did to us. There is no excuse for what they did, and no punishment too severe.

Travis sez said...

Damn straight, Alan. Meanwhile the Obamunists tout a "voluntary" (mandatory) Day of Service, and urge members of the State Department attend and participate in Muslim Prayers today. It's pathetic how they try to reshape America. Thanks for your persistent truth.