Unsung victory
There's a victory going unsung in this war and I think we should
recognize it. I'm talking about the victory against terror inside the
US during the first week of the war. It's safe to assume, I think,
that the terrorists would certainly have struck if they could have.
No time would have been better to punish the US than during the first
days of the attack on Iraq. A successful attack would have brought
out media critics, cowered a certain percentage of the US population
in their homes and been played as a certain victory in the arab press.
The fact that it didn't happen is a tribute to all of those
thousands of people who work to defend our homeland. We owe them
all a big vote of thanks, from the big federal agencies like the FBI
and CIA, to the state troopers and local police and even down to
the lowly-treated security guard standing in the lobby of your
office building. All of these people know that it's their
responsibility to protect us and, collectively, they've managed to
pull off a big victory here at the start of the war.
All of the interviews, security checks, arrests, and detentions
have had an effect. The increased security at power plants, municipal
buildings, places of congregation, airports and so on have succeeded.
We've clearly reduced the terrorists' manpower and reduced the number
of targets available to them. They would have attacked if they could
have.
My hat's off to all those who participate in this battle.
Congratulations. Job well done.
Of course, this is just the first battle of what will no doubt be a
long campaign. Obviously, it's far to soon to declare victory or
celebrate. There's nothing wrong, however, with recognizing a victory
when you see it.