HunterByrd

Right war, right place, right time!

A thoughtful commenter, who described herself as 'undecided, but leaning toward Bush', expressed great concern about the war in Iraq the other day. She echoed the angst of a nation caught in the violent whirlwind of shifting history. Why did we go there, what is our plan, and how in the heck to we get out?

In a hastily penned reply, I tried to give an answer, but all I did was touch upon a facet of the whole. This article touches upon another.

Kerry has pushed his 'we band of brothers' theme to the back of the bus as his campaign hurtles headlong towards its destiny on November 2. In place of the now-tepid Swiftboat heroics, he's brought on few 9/11 widows (the same ones who screamed 'foul' when Bush ads contained references to Ground Zero, earlier this year). These widows tell the crowds that there is no connection between Iraq and the attacks, and hence the mantra "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time."

"The truth is, after watching the Republican convention in New York, I am scared. I am scared of the mentality," said Kirsten Breitweiser, the most celebrated of the self-styled Jersey Girls, four widows who led a dogged campaign to force the Bush administration to establish an independent investigation into the attacks.

We are in the whirlwind, nothing in the mass psyche is crystal clear. Motivation and reason can't be determined with the clarity of 30 years of hindsight. The perfect case in point: the numerous turn-abouts Kerry has made throughout his campaign for President. Here is a man who would be a national leader, and the whirlwind of history has the best of him. The anti-war theme will not gain the purchase Kerry pines for because Saddam WISHED harm upon us. He had the state of mind, if not the arm of action.

As one of 150 9/11 family members who have signed an open letter strongly supporting the president's decision to prosecute the war on terror in Iraq, I would remind Americans who think the presence of weapons of mass destruction are the sine qua non for any pre-emptive war that the 19 terrorists who slaughtered 3,000 innocent men, women and children in a matter of minutes were sponsored by the Taliban, a backward regime that had neither WMD nor the technology to produce them. Saddam may not have had a hand in the plot that killed our loved ones, but American troops found ample evidence that he wishes he had, including the murals he commissioned for public display depicting airplanes exploding into the World Trade Center towers, but with this added conceit: One shows the planes painted in the colors of Iraqi airlines while Saddam's grinning portrait looms in the foreground in yet another.

For many 9/11 family members, the most compelling reason for putting an end to Saddam's dangerous regime can be found in the 9/11 Commission's pointed analysis on the subject of "imminent threats." As we forced ourselves to read through the voluminous material which explains in excruciating detail the disparate threads of the 9/11 plot, we were constantly mindful of the seemingly innocuous events which would ultimately prove critical to the cruel and brutal deaths of our loved ones. We understand the commission's dire warning and wish that our fellow Americans would listen closely: "Once the danger has fully materialized, evident to all, mobilizing action is easier--but it then may be too late."

Those are the words of Debra Burlingame. Her husband piloted AA Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11/01. She wrote the piece upon which this article is based. JFKerry would have you believe that all of the 9/11 survivors are 'non-political' about that day of death, and that is why they rally around him. Not so! Not so!

Rather than waiting until it was too late to prevent a fully materialized threat, President Bush acted. We believe history will support his courageous decision. We believe the president has demonstrated strength, consistency and a laser-like focus, sending a clear message to America's friends and foes that he will not waver in his resolve as the winds of political fortune change.

Ms Burlingame, a life-long Dem, cofounded 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America.