We few, we unhappy few, we band of loose associates

I am growing exhausted and weary of the creeping defeatism and outright cowardice of the American people. According to Shakespeare: "Gentlemen in England now a-bed, shall think themselves accurs'd they were not; And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks, that fought with us upon St. Crispin's day."

Can we imagine Americans who are daily "a-bed" regretting that they were not among the few and proud who fought to establish an outpost of liberty on the far side of the world? Nay! Most seem content to worry about declining home prices, all the while demanding that the festering inconvenience of Iraq be brought to end. Do they not see that this is EXACTLY what al-qaida has predicted?! Do they not get that our enemy's time frame is literally hundreds of years long?! Where is the fire in the belly? Where is our Churchillian conviction that we "will NEVER surrender!"? Can we have fallen so low? Is our society truly so base that no cause is worth sacrifice, no mission worth striving against the odds, no hope bright enough to fuel the engine of conviction? Why are we not relentless? Perhaps this truly is Rome before the fall.

Today brings two noteworthy pieces of news. First, American forces have finally reached their escalated levels. Just now they are at full force and ready to engage the enemy. Second, Sunni arab residents of a neighborhood in Baghdad rose up against the armed terrorists of al-qaida who were holding them hostage. These hate-filled fascists sought to soak the neighborhood in blood, shooting randomly and preventing the attendance of school. The locals called upon American forces for help, and a fierce battle raged.

We are engaged in the struggle of our time. We are met in battle with a force that seeks our elimination. Because we don't think in these terms, because we have been acultured to "acceptance" and "diversity" and "harmony" we no longer even understand an enemy that is focused on absolutes, who's frame of reference is thousands of years long, who is willing to commit suicide for a moments glory.

If our country does not begin to grasp what we are up against and truly engage, I fear that my generation my be left to mop up the pieces of a civilization in ruin. On second thought, we might be too old by then, but we will witness it, and we will weep in disbelief. Remember that Rome was succeeded by 1,000 years of darkness before civilization climbed out of the abyss and returned to its previous heights. It has happened before. It is supremely naive to think it can't happen again.

The Iraqi people are our brothers. We may stand alone in defense of freedom, as Churchill's Britain did in an earlier era, but we should proudly proclaim that "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" will strive evermore to right the world and expand freedom. With increasing desperation I hope we can all get a clue. Our future depends on it.