With France's and Germany's announcements about<br />IRAQ - HAVE WE FORGOTTEN???<br /><br />"DO NOT FORGET "<br /><br />I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "why<br />didn't the Jews fight back?"<br /><br />Now I know why.<br /><br />I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why<br />weren't we prepared?"<br /><br />Now I know why.<br /><br />Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil<br />people.<br /><br />On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed<br />themselves to<br />be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did<br />not<br />comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.<br /><br />On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too<br />many<br />Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to<br />the<br />dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media<br />personnel<br />want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of<br />the<br />rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to<br />understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major television stations<br />have announced they will assist the healing process by not replaying<br />devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers.<br /><br />I will not be manipulated.<br /><br />I will not pretend to understand.<br /><br />I will not forget.<br /><br />I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to<br />kick<br />our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.<br /><br />I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's<br />address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel<br />about<br />him, he is still our president."<br /><br />I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President<br />Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and<br />commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."<br /><br />And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters<br />weren't<br />informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor<br />should they be expected -- to show deference."<br /><br />I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an<br />attack<br />on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of<br />America.<br /><br />I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists<br />and<br />their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications<br />equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's<br />ability<br />to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem<br />communications.<br /><br />I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like<br />those<br />perfected by the previous administration.<br /><br />I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the<br />silly "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.<br /><br />I will not be influenced by so called, "antiwar demonstrators" who<br />exploit<br />the right of _expression to chant anti-American obscenities.<br /><br />I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by<br />American<br />war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning Soldiers, Airmen,<br />Sailors and Marines.<br /><br />I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose<br />reassurance over reality.<br /><br />I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told<br />Labor<br />Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the<br />innocent If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone<br />doubt<br />they would have done so and rejoiced in it?<br /><br />There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds,<br />no<br />point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be<br />defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"<br /><br />I will force myself to:<br /><br />-hear the weeping<br />-feel the helplessness<br />-imagine the terror<br />-sense the panic<br />-smell the burning flesh<br />- experience the loss<br />- remember the hatred.<br /><br />I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself,<br />"Where<br />did they find the courage?"<br /><br />Now I know.<br /><br />We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.<br /><br />-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)<br />Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.<br /><br />So very true. 
