Rupublican view:A terrible day met great leader
Justin Smith - College Republicans
Issue date: 9/7/04 Section: Forum
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It has now been three years since 19 militant terrorists attacked America. Three years ago, Americans encountered hardship, but we endured it. We suffered attack, but we survived it. We were faced with terror and fear, but we overcame and conquered it.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, our country could have shown weakness. We could have run from adversity and hidden from confrontation. We could have been overcome by terror and defeated by our fears.
But we did not run. We were not overcome. And we were not defeated.
I believe that is mostly because of the man leading America: President George W. Bush.
President Bush rallied Americans to defend freedom and pursue the evil men who attacked us. He made us proud to be Americans. He brought out our best when the terrorists had hoped only for the worst.
In Afghanistan, America defeated a terrorist-supporting regime and liberated a country. But the War on Terrorism did not stop with Taliban. Terrorists around the world want nothing more than to destroy the United States.
The terrorists have not stopped plotting. They have not stopped recruiting. And they have not stopped hating. We have caught many, but more remain. Those individuals continue to advocate America's destruction and freedom's demise. They despise America because of what we stand for: freedom.
America has learned that we cannot ignore the terrorists and expect peace or appease them and expect cooperation. We can no longer believe the lie claiming that if America leaves the terrorists alone, they will leave us alone.
America did nothing to them throughout the 1990s, yet terrorists attacked our embassies, our military and the World Trade Center. As long as America champions freedom, we will be the enemy of these radical terrorists. The terrorists will never relent from their ultimate objective; they will never repent their intense hatred.
Some believe America should only declare war in response to an attack by a foreign power. But when threatened with danger that puts millions of lives in peril, the rules of old no longer apply. Sept. 11 taught us that.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, our country could have shown weakness. We could have run from adversity and hidden from confrontation. We could have been overcome by terror and defeated by our fears.
But we did not run. We were not overcome. And we were not defeated.
I believe that is mostly because of the man leading America: President George W. Bush.
President Bush rallied Americans to defend freedom and pursue the evil men who attacked us. He made us proud to be Americans. He brought out our best when the terrorists had hoped only for the worst.
In Afghanistan, America defeated a terrorist-supporting regime and liberated a country. But the War on Terrorism did not stop with Taliban. Terrorists around the world want nothing more than to destroy the United States.
The terrorists have not stopped plotting. They have not stopped recruiting. And they have not stopped hating. We have caught many, but more remain. Those individuals continue to advocate America's destruction and freedom's demise. They despise America because of what we stand for: freedom.
America has learned that we cannot ignore the terrorists and expect peace or appease them and expect cooperation. We can no longer believe the lie claiming that if America leaves the terrorists alone, they will leave us alone.
America did nothing to them throughout the 1990s, yet terrorists attacked our embassies, our military and the World Trade Center. As long as America champions freedom, we will be the enemy of these radical terrorists. The terrorists will never relent from their ultimate objective; they will never repent their intense hatred.
Some believe America should only declare war in response to an attack by a foreign power. But when threatened with danger that puts millions of lives in peril, the rules of old no longer apply. Sept. 11 taught us that.
