Which would you rather?
By Staff
Craig Ziemba / guest columnist
Feb. 22, 2004
There's no use candy-coating it. The situation on the ground in Iraq is dangerous. In addition to Saddam Hussein loyalists attacking our troops, suicide bombers from all over the world are converging on Iraq in a jihad jamboree where the highest prize is to kill American soldiers, Iraqi civilians, or both and to prevent democracy from taking root in the Middle East.
Every night as we hear of another casualty, we all feel a lump in our throats, think of how their families must be taking the news and wonder why there's so much hatred in the world. As sad as it is when a young soldier's life is cut short, though, there's an important point that is often lost on the American public: Since we have taken the war to the Middle East, our enemies now focus their terror in Baghdad, rather than Beaumont, in Kabul rather than Kansas City, in Mosul rather than Montgomery.
Neutrality not an option
It's terrible that Al Queda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the other usual suspects are attacking Americans in Iraq. We'd rather not fight at all. But since neutrality isn't an available option after you're attacked, it's far better to fight the war in the Middle East rather than in the Midwest.
The primary duty of our military is to protect our country, our way of life, and our citizens from those who wish us harm. That duty brings with it an enormous risk. And every one of us who has flown over or marched into Iraq knew that when we volunteered.
No one wants to leave home and travel halfway around the world to get shot at, but we would much rather take the fight to them than have them ever bring terror to our shores again.
I watched the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on a television in a Ready Room full of pilots. Our emotion was unanimous. Every one of us wanted to be on the team that was heading downtown to make the terrorists and the states that harbored them rue the day they attacked the United States. We knew that hundreds or thousands of our American troops would die. But we believed that taking the offensive in the global war on terror was the right thing to do.
For America to survive as a land of freedom and opportunity, young soldiers must be willing to lay down their lives for their countrymen. It's been this way since Valley Forge.
Lonely vigils
Just as an oven mitt gets burned, scorched and scarred so that your hands don't have to, American soldiers, sailors, and airmen stand lonely vigils far from home so that their children can enjoy freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from want and fear.
Every night a policeman answers a call on a lonely stretch of highway in the middle of the night, and every time a fireman races into a burning building to rescue a child, they take the same selfless risk that our soldiers do while on patrol in Iraq. Policemen, firemen and soldiers all have seen their friends die, and each one knows that he might be next. But some professions are more than just jobs they are callings.
It's okay to worry about them, and even better to pray for them. But don't begrudge them the chance to answer duty's call and to take their proud place in history beside those who fought at Yorktown, Gettysburg, Iwo Jima and Kandahar.
One day soon their time on the tip of the spear will be over, and they will pass freedom's watch to those who will follow in their footsteps. Every night after returning home as they tuck their children safely into bed, they'll remember those who gave their lives so that they could enjoy freedom. They'll remember those who still stand watch far away from their loved ones.
And they'll give thanks.
Craig Ziemba is a pilot who lives in Meridian. His book, Boondoggle," about flying in the Navy and the Air National Guard is available at Meridian area Bible Bookstores.
