Let's Get on with It, Already

Over at Daily Pundit, there's a terrific piece on the seriousness (or lack thereof) of the Bush Administration's committment to fighting the GWoT in a manner calculated to win it, complete with refllection upon the unmitigated disaster that would result from any more, shall we say, nuanced approach. In part, Lestango's Too Much Truth persuasively argues:

The Right has been engaged in a mind-boggling act of self-deception, because its premise - that the administration intended to fight a global preemptive war against terror - is a fraud. How did rank-and-file Republicans keep believing Washington was committed to a preemptive war when even a WMD-free Iraq under Saddam would pose a grave danger? Didn’t the Right notice there were no WMD’s used to destroy the World Trade Center or smash a plane into the Pentagon? Or to strike at the Cole? Bomb the Khobar Towers? How did the Right reach a broad understanding that a nuclear armed Iran would be the greatest threat to our ability to fight terror, yet accept the Administration’s absolute inaction with nary a protest?

Back during the runup to the 2004 election, when Republicans were lashing out against every criticism of the Bush administration, a refusal to question the emperor's clothes was at least understandable. There was an election to win, and the Democrats would have misused any conservative disagreement with the Administration's policies, even though the Democrats themselves would have utterly failed in every part of the GWOT except attacking Afghanistan.

The election is long over. The Right will share culpability for the terror disease and any resulting catastrophe if it doesn't summon the energy and courage to recognize the facts.

The Right got a good chance this week to start on the road back to reality when the Administration finally declared the truth: the American people are not at war. For years the Administration claimed America was, but it lied. Lied. George Bush lied, and those around him lied. No, he didn't lie about WMD's. He lied that he would protect the nation and wage war against terror. This hurts real people - the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines lost 21 dead this week in Iraq because our president will not fight to win. It will hurt many more in the future.

The whole thing is, in the vernacular, a "must read." There is, without question, a war to fight. And that war is, without question, a war against Islamist terrorism -- an ideological Islam that is bent on ressurecting the discarded Islamic Caliphate, Ummah, or whatever Islamacists want to call the hell on earth they seek to create. Lestango's piece is a great place to start getting re-oriented with the true and essential nature of the war of our Age -- a war that civilized society is called on to fight . . . and win . . . in furious fashion. Let's get on with it, already.