A 22 Year Old Agrees
Reader comment on item: Are We Safer?

Submitted by J.F. Hulston (United States), May 3, 2002

Mr. Pipes is correct; the memory of September 11 has faded and so has a large extent of America's attention to the threat of militant Islam. Mark Helprin has articulated the sorry response of the war in Afganistan in his recent article "Phony War" in the National Review. Helprin writes:
" If a great power such as the United States suffers a savage and destructive attack against its chief city, its high officials, and its capital, what is the reason for it to prevaricate?"
Our destruction of a pathetic group of some 30,000 illterate religious students in Central Asia is no reason to be triumphant; the destruction of the Taliban hardly speaks of the will or the dedication of the American people. Only when President Bush goes after Iraq will the U.S. restore its awe to the eyes of Arabia.

As a 22-year-old, ready to leave for the 82nd Airborne in two weeks, I hope to be part of restoring our might to the eyes of the those who view us as a "paper tiger." As Helprin writes, and as Mr. Pipes has just reaffirmed, "The president's policy does not comport with the valor and sacrifice of his troops." Our country should be a lot more willing to sacrifice - after all, our country's life is at stake here!

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