By John W. Lillpop
We Americans are not known for our ability to remain focused on important issues long enough to properly resolve outstanding problems. Rather, we tend to allow our attentions to be diverted too quickly for our own good.
Think back to the events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Most of us can remember exactly what we were doing, with whom, and where we were when we learned of the devastating attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the aborted attempt to crash a jet liner into the White House.
Within a few days, Americans became familiar with evil characters named Osama bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Mohammed Atta. Names that hardly anyone could pronounce before September 11, suddenly became household names to millions of Americans.
Prior to September 11, most Americans would have struggled to find Afghanistan on a map, and asking a typical American from, say, Colorado, to define terms like Al-Quaeda and Taliban would have drawn blank stares and or hysterical laughter.
Some typical questions in the days immediately following 9/11 included:
What is the difference between Muslim and Islam?
Does Allah report to God, or is it the other way around?
What about Jesus and Mohammed?
What is the Koran and why is it spelled with a K sometimes and with a Q at other times?
Is Ramadan a hotel chain that caters to Muslims only?
What goes on in mosques and why are they always so busy on Friday afternoons?
Are Muslim martyrs actually rewarded with 72 virgins? How can a lonely, middle-aged, slightly plump, not obsessively religious conservative with red neck values get in on the action?
Who is Pervez Musharraf, and why is George W. Bush giving him scores of billions of American taxpayer dollars?
What is Al-Quaeda and why do they have sleeper cells in Detroit and Chicago? Just what is a sleeper cell--a mobile phone network exclusive to Muslims?
Shiite sounds like one of the seven dirty words forbidden by the FCC, and Sunni is not much better. What in the world is the difference between these two, and why should I care?
Is Saddam Hussein a Shiite Sunni? Or is he a terrible Taliban?
Jihad is some sort of religious expression, right? Exclusive to the "Religion of Peace" as I understand it?
Do Jews celebrate Ramadan with Kosher food?
Why are there no synagogues or Holocaust museums in Iran?
Why do both Jews and Muslims hate ham and Christians?
Clearly, we Americans have come a long way in our understanding of, if not appreciation for, Muslims since September 2001.
However, most Americans have long since forgotten the intensity of our emotions and the blind rage we all felt on 9/11.
Looking back nearly seven tears ago when America was still united against terrorism, who could have foreseen the following realities of 2008?
-Democrats have apparently decided on anti-war pacifist Barack Hussein Obama as the party's presidential nominee;
-Democrat Barack Hussein Obama attended a church for 20 years in which the presiding pastor actually blamed the United States for 9/11 and screamed, "GD America!" during a religious service;
-The United States Supreme Court has ruled against the United States government and in favor of suspected terrorists captured on the battlefields and held at Guantanamo Bay;
-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) proudly boasted that the senate had "killed the Patriot Act," vital legislation created to help the US government prevent another terrorist attack on US soil;
-Democrats favor closure of Guantanamo Bay and are opposed to "torture" of terrorists, even when it could save American lives;
-George W. Bush's approval ratings, once at or above 90 percent, are now below 30 percent;
-To liberals such as Al Gore, global warming is seen as a greater threat than is terrorism;
-Obesity is viewed by liberals with more alarm than is terrorism;
-Osama bin Laden's ex-driver, Salim Hamdan was convicted of providing material support to al Quaeda, but cleared of terrorism.
-Salim Hamdan was sentenced to 66 months in prison, but with credit for time already served, could be released as early as January 2009.
To make matters worse, Republicans, long recognized as being strong on defense and homeland security, are now the minority party in both chambers of the US Congress.
Even worse, Republicans stand to lose even more seats in the November elections to Democrats who simply do not take terrorists seriously, and or who do not care enough about America to give a dang.
Overall, it looks as though the terrorists have won the war on terror, especially if Americans elect Barack Hussein Obama and even greater Democrat majorities in the US Congress.
How quickly we forget!
jwl
8-14
