A 4th of July Message
A 4th of July Message
I'd like to take the opportunity of
this 228th year of American independence to wish all Americans, and our many
friends overseas who wish us well, a glorious 4th of July holiday.
America is once again at war, this time against a new enemy who is willing to
murder anyone in the name of God, an enemy who is bent on achieving only one
aim: the imposition of a theocratic regime on an unwilling peoples. Unlike the
past, our new enemies come with new weapons in their arsenal. they attempt (and
often succeed) in using the power of our own press to convince us that we are
"evil" and deserving of the war imposed on us; they try to silence those who
oppose them by the use of our own judiciary system against us; they demand
special "rights" for themselves that they would deny others. and they march on
our streets, insulting our great country and what has our society done for
them? We provide them with a willing phalanx of attorney's, ever ready to
defend them and their followers from any charges. Our largely sycophantic press
is ever-ready to give them the press they don't deserve, to elevate them, to
show the world how "tolerant" and "understanding" they are, while suggesting
that if only the peoples of the United States "understood" them more, why, we'd
all get along just fine.
I have news for them: I don't want to get along with them. I believe the
majority of my fellow Americans aren't interested in getting along either. The
time for negotiation ended on September 11th, 2001.when we Americans saw the
true face of militant Islam, up close and very personal. The tortured souls
forced to choose between jumping to their certain deaths or being burned alive.
In my worse nightmare, I cannot imagine ever being faced with such a choice and
if I have my way, no other American will ever have to make that choice again.
We Americans owe it to those who died to make it so. Let us never forget the
awful vision of human beings jumping to their deaths, the planeload of hero's
who said "Let's roll" and sacrificed themselves for what they must have known
was a doomed effort: to stop their aircraft from becoming yet another missile
used against their fellow citizens.
We have to face facts, we have been largely abandoned by our past friends and
Europe is largely united in opposition to America. For daring to stand up and
defend ourselves, we are vilified by those whom we thought of as allies. Can
anyone doubt that if France or Germany had been attacked, that our country would
have hesitated to send immediate support? No, if this had occurred, our people
would have never asked, "What did you do to deserve the attack?", our people
would have asked, "What can we do to help?", and the help would have been
immediate and unconditional.
Many people who have written to ACAIR have asked why I fight this battle. I
am only speaking for myself, not the other members of ACAIR. But one thing I do
know for a fact: all of us love our country and have no desire to take the
appeasement route in this war. As for me, I also lost a friend at the
Pentagon. No, he wasn't a close and personal friend, just one of the many
people I knew from my Navy career. But I remember him because he was a good
person terror-murdered simply for being an American.
Some who have written ACAIR ask "can we win this war?" My answer now, as
before, is "yes". We will win. Why am I filled with confidence?
- When General Washington was camped at Valley Forge, he lost many troops who
became disillusioned and went home. Yet, those brave soldiers who stayed went
on to defeat a superior enemy in the dead of winter in the worse possible war
fighting conditions. When I see the faces of our young troops (and they are
young: average age is 19) in Iraq and Afghanistan, I see the same grim
determination to tough it out, to get the job done. And who were, and are,
these people? .Americans.
- In the immediate aftermath of the attacks on 9-11, I went to donate blood at
the local mall. The line was literally out of the building, snaking into the
parking lots. It was a very hot day, but nobody complained. No, there wasn't
much smiling going on, just a grim determination to give something to the
victims. When later it was sadly announced that there wouldn't be any need for
the blood due to the lack of survivors, the line stayed. These folks could have
said "we tried" and gone home. They didn't. Ordinary folks, your neighbors and
mine stayed to fulfill their commitment to donate. What kind of people are
these? Americans.
- When Europe largely abandoned us, our president carried out his plans to
strike the enemy in his lair. He could have said to us that we didn't have the
support of the United Nations, that our "allies" in France and Germany had
turned their backs on us that maybe we should ask ourselves what we did to bring
this upon America. He didn't. He could have taken the easy way out, lobbed a
few bombs, sent a few cruise missiles into enemy camps and given speeches about
how angry he was. No, our president was faced with a new threat, a new terror
confronting us and he knew that if an immediate, overwhelming response wasn't
carried out that our enemies would see this as weakness. With quiet
determination, he spoke for the vast majority of Americans and sent off our
troops to stop a fanatical enemy who doesn't understand that we will not be
subjugated, that we have no desire to live in a world where we are afraid of
shadows.
From Europe, I ask: "What is your answer to terror?" From France, I ask,
"Where is the spirit of Lafayette? Where is the great French fleet, carrying
brave French soldiers coming to aid us in our time of need?" I pray that
neither France nor Germany is ever attacked the way we were on 9-11, but if they
are, I know we will be on the phone immediately, asking "what can we do to
help?" How do I know? Because we are Americans and it's our way.
In closing, I'd like to thank those friends of mine who make up "team ACAIR".
Many of you don't know that I have four friends who help in keeping the site up,
and in putting out the "News & Analysis." They prefer to stay out of the
limelight (they could be your next-door neighbor) and to them I owe a lot, they
kept me going through the early stages when I didn't know if we were making an
impact or not; they persuaded me to continue when CAIR first threatened their
lawsuit against me they could have folded their tents and turned their backs on
me and they didn't. I will always remember that and be grateful. To those who
have taken the time to write and share your thoughts, I want to say "thank you",
you've made it all worthwhile. In your celebrations of this 228th Fourth of
July, will you take a minute to remember all Americans, past and present, who
have fought, and are fighting, for our freedoms?
God bless America,
Andrew Whitehead
