Some really great stuff from Orson Scott Card on the war on terror and the upcoming election.
Our enemy at this time is the enemy of all of civilization, as surely as during World War II or during the Cold War. We are in the right, and when our soldiers die, they die not just to protect Americans, but to protect all human beings who love peace and freedom; and when they kill, it is for that same national motive.
...
It is easy to charge America with imperialistic motives, but any rational assessment of our behavior as a nation in the past century, when we clearly stood astride the world as an economic and military colossus, would show that we behaved with historically unprecedented restraint.
...
Germany, once conquered by us in a far bloodier war than the one we waged in Iraq, should know that being conquered by Americans is the best thing that ever happened to them in their painful history. France, whose own soldiers and government melted away once they were outmaneuvered by Hitler's military, owes its freedom -- both from Nazism and Communism -- to American troops and nuclear weapons that sheltered them in their surly resentment. It was not America that ended the greatness of France -- that was something the French accomplished for themselves -- but it was America that preserved the freedom and independence of France.Above all nations on this planet, France and Germany should recognize a war of liberation when they see it. It is to their shame, not ours, that they do not.
...
[I]n 2004, we will be making the ultimate decision about whether or not to win the decisive victory. The first campaign will take place entirely on American soil, as we must choose between the current administration, which shows every sign of intending to pursue victory, and the Democratic Party, which so far seems grimly determined to nominate candidates that will undo all our gains so far and leave us permanently exposed to enemies that are emboldened by American weakness.
...
This election, more than any other in recent memory, will give us the chance to decide, with greater clarity than in most elections, what the future of our nation and the world will be.
...
The burden of decision has been placed on this generation of American voters, who have inherited a nation made great by the actions of their forebears. Now we will decide whether America will remain great and good, or wither away like so many other nations that have lacked the will to make the national and personal sacrifices that greatness and goodness require.
