A Tribute to the Maker whose Decision Stands the Test of Time

9-11 A Tribute to the Maker whose Decision Stands the Test of Time

“We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before, Shouting the battle cry of Freedom; And we'll fill the vacant ranks with a million free men more; Shouting the battle cry of Freedom!”

The Battle Cry of Freedom by George Frederick Root C. 1861

Arguably, divine intervention set upon the shoulders of one man and one man alone, George W. Bush, the daunting task of managing America's first homeland terrorist attack carried out by dastardly human beings whose terror stemmed from Afghanistan, no less. One can never be truly prepared for the magnitude, intensity, and pressure that would follow yet the 54-year old man from Texas (aka 43 and actually born in New Haven, Connecticut) had no choice in the matter but to step in and step up for such is the burden that must be borne by the President of the United States of America (POTUS). Twenty years later we ask ourselves if the lives lost on that dreadful day were so in vain. Tears were shed, lives were shattered, stories were ended but one thing remained intact, the foundation of America's call and love for "freedom" that since that very day, none of us would ever again take for granted.

On September 15, 43, ordered his national security team to gather at Camp David to start developing the war plan for Afghanistan where the Taliban ideology ran amuck endangering the lives of its citizens by curtailing their basic human rights to think, dress, and live freely. To be clear, the decision to go into Afghanistan was both strategic and pragmatic. America could not afford then -nor, arguably, can it now- to miss the chance to eradicate the source of terror that had struck home yet it was hardly welcomed with open arms by the international community. It seemed at the time that the world failed to understand that George W. was a Wartime President and had both the right and obligation to defend his nation. It was indeed time to “go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.” It would not be the first or last time that such a call would be made to put American Idealism in the driver seat of its Foreign policy.

On January 22, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson attacked the international order that preceded the Great War (1914-1918). In his eyes, all nations had a vested and equal interest to safeguard peace and to punish those who seek to alter stability. His emphasis was on the creation of “a community of power” or what would become known as “collective security” as defended by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Indeed, President Wilson, to the amazement of his European counterparts who understood the world differently- having been the battlefield of so many a military struggle- attacked the “national selfishness” that governed the world before the onset of the Great War and called for a new order of things in which countries asked, as George W. stated: “Is it right?” “Is it just” “Is it in the interest of mankind?”

Rekindled by the discourse of Wilsonian Idealism, George W. led a country in pain, shaken, and startled, into battle for the sake of punishing those who had in the name of terror attacked the nation that embodies the beacon of freedom, hope (as President Obama would so eloquently use to his political advantage), and justice in the western hemisphere. And, while America may have ordered its troops to leave Afghanistan, today's New York memorial attendees, which include the Bidens, Obamas, and Clintons (all Democrats), must have in the back of their heads and in their mind's eye the image of a nation in the Middle East that borders China and former Soviet Republics, where twenty years ago terror was running wild. Yes, it was a man from Texas entrusted upon by Almighty God, who happens to be a Republican, who had the courage to lead and make the difficult decision to start a War in the name of freedom, a freedom that today remains feeble at best in a land called Afghanistan. May the lives of those who parted on September 11, remind us of how fortunate we are to be alive and free and may we never take our freedom for granted, and may the international community have the courage to defend its freedom should the course of history once again, demand action.