To the editor:

War is a terrible thing, but at times it has been a very necessary undertaking. Had it not been for the Revolutionary War, it is doubtful that any of us would be here. Thank God for those brave patriots at Lexington and Concord, and of course, our fearless leader, George Washington, and our Founding Fathers, led by the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson.

Then, it was after the Civil War that we became a united country. Perhaps we were never more united than when we came together for a common cause, World War II. Many heroic Selmians have died protecting our freedom, and indeed, well over 1,000,000 brave Americans have perished in the perished in the many wars we have fought in our nation’s short 228 year history.

We are now in the midst of World War II – a deadly conflict versus International Terrorism. The terrorists are evil people, hell-bent on destroying us and our way of life. They are located in cells world-wide and go by the names of al-Queda, Hamas, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc. Some primary hot spots are Palestine, Iran, Saudi and Iraq.

Most people who concede we are at war consider the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon as the war’s beginning. Actually, we have been under terrorist attacks since the Tehran American Embassy hostage crisis in 1979. Interestingly, the 53 hostages were released and sent home (444 days later) during Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981.

Hundreds of American citizens/military personnel have died since in Beruit, Kuwait, Germany, Madrid, Saudi, Kenya, Tanzania, Scotland, Yemen, etc. by various types of bombing. In Iraq, we and our allies are losing lives daily, along with having hostages kidnapped and being brutally murdered by beheadings. Now that we have restored sovereignty, become back-up military support and an interim leader is in charge, our hands are tied. We are really in a mess it would appear. When are we going to wake up? When are we going to understand that these barbarians want to kill all of us? These enemies only understand power and force.

My suggestion: We take back military control, kill al Sadr, flatten Fallujah, Najaf and any other terrorist/insurgent strongholds, win the war – and get the hell out of Dodge, putting Iran on notice. When are we going to learn that appeasement, political correctness, plus being sensitive and nice is a no-win proposition? Nobody seems to understand that the objet of war is to destroy the enemy and win unconditionally. Too bad we don’t have another George Patton to conduct our military affairs.

Byrd Looper