Charles Shiflett Column April 18, 2004

Political Correctness Is Restraining Our Leaders

I intently watched the news conference held by President Bush Tuesday evening and came away
disappointed - not in what Bush said, but in what today's disease of political correctness prevented
him from saying. Gone are the days when a president could talk plainly and tell it like it is, though
Bush does so much more than Kerry ever would.

Today we must be careful not to offend any race, religion, or culture - and walking on eggshells is now
the national pastime. Even though it is fact, the President cannot say we are engaged in World War III,
lest he be accused of fanning the flames of war. And though this is clearly a war between Islam and
freedom, our leaders must carefully phrase their statements to show compassion for the Muslim
community.

For centuries, millions have been slaughtered, raped, brutalized, and oppressed in the name of Islam.
Yes, Christianity has periods of darkness in its own history - man is sinful in nature and sinful men will
use religion to further their own goals. However, there is no dispute that the terrorist threat we are
facing is rooted wholly in Islamic beliefs and teachings. Can you imagine the outcry from around the
world and even here in the good old USA if President Bush or one of his cabinet members were to lay
the blame on Islam the way it should be done?

In WWII, FDR took severe actions to preserve and protect this nation in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.
In hindsight, some of them - like the internment of Japanese-Americans - were probably over the line.
However, FDR and his successor Harry Truman each understood what had to be done to win. As
harsh as it sounds, the goal should be victory while preserving American lives - even if it means
inflicting harm or death to innocents on the other side.

Two well-placed atomic bombs over Japan ended Japan's imperialistic ambitions, potentially prevented
over one million U.S. casualties, and brought WWII to an end. Hundreds of thousands of innocent
Japanese men, woman, and children were maimed, killed, or suffered in some way from our atomic
attack. Yet, our decisive victory put Japan on track to become one of the more stable nations in the
world today.

Tyrants, dictators, and the regimes that support then only understand one thing - brute force. The new
European/American model of compassion for your enemies does not work. When did Libya's Gadhafi
stop exporting terrorism? When Ronald Reagan sent U.S. military jets to bomb Gaddafi's personal
residence, killing and wounding some of his children.

Why did the Soviet Union buckle and crumble? Because Reagan let them know in no uncertain terms
that we would not live in a perpetual state of Cold War with them, and then backed it up with massive
increases in defense spending and began development of anti-missile and space based weapons
systems. The Soviets knew they couldn't match us financially or technologically, and had already
seen Reagan use U.S. military power in Libya, Grenada, and other places. So when Reagan went to
Berlin and personally demanded of Gorbachev that the Berlin Wall be torn down, it was and the Soviet
Union is no more.

President Bush is plain spoken and I know it has been hard for him to restrain himself from saying
things the way he probably wants to say them. So for now I'm satisfied in knowing that he is
committed to finishing the job in Iraq, though I wish we could hit harder and send a stronger message
to Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others in that region that we mean business. If we can just
bring that one nation - Iraq - under submission, and rebuild it materially while changing the mindset of
the people - then perhaps we can do for the people of the Middle East what we did for the people of
Japan.

The U.S. economy is now hitting on all cylinders and jobs are being created. The Bush economic
stimulus plan has worked, despite continual Democrats attacks that his plan was flawed. These same
Democrats will also be proven wrong about Iraq, but unfortunately their politically motivated attacks on
the Bush Iraqi strategy has emboldened Islamic terrorists and fanatics to hit us in Iraq - and U.S.
servicemen and women are dying as a result.

I don't agree with Bush on every issue, but it's time for Democrats and disgruntled Republicans to hold
their verbal fire about Iraq until the job is finished. Support our troops, yes - but showing our enemies
that we are united in this fight is even more important.