Columnist Sandy Thompson: We must stay strong to fight terrorism

Sandy Thompson

Friday, Nov. 2, 2001 | 5:10 a.m.

Sandy Thompson is vice president/associate editor of the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4025 or e-mail at thompson@lasvegassun.com

MEMO TO ALL TV news stations:

Every time you run news footage of the bombing in Afghanistan, please include an inset shot of the still-smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center towers.

Every time you interview a Taliban official about the "hundreds" of civilian deaths caused by American bombs, please show the photos of the thousands of innocent civilians who were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

This is not intended as a debate over whether the media's coverage of the the war in Afghanistan has been objective and accurate. I am concerned about how ordinary people, our leaders and so-called allies are viewing the war and whether our resolve -- and that of the American-led coalition -- is truly waning.

It's curious that a British newspaper claims the American war is a fraud. I wonder how the Brits would have felt if the New York Times had called Hitler's invasion of England a fraud. (Hey, how many food parcels did the Germans drop along with their bombs during the Blitz?)

It's curious that a bunch of armchair generals think the war -- barely five weeks old -- is taking so long. (Hey, we were told from the beginning that this would be a long, protracted campaign.) Although many of these critics are arrogant, naive or ignorant, they have the freedom in America to be critical. They don't have that right in Afghanistan.

It's curious that a bunch of "peaceniks" (some of whom are academia types who couldn't make it in the real business world, and students attending expensive college classes paid for by Mommy and Daddy) oppose killing innocent Afghanis but ignore the killing of innocent Americans.

I, too, detest war. It's a horrible waste. But we didn't start this. We were attacked. If we simply turn the other cheek and do nothing about it, we've lost.

Wake up, people. Our very way of life is at stake here. We have been attacked by monsters whose only goal is to make the world over into their own image. Consider the differences:

So where would you prefer to live? What lifestyle would you choose?

We cannot allow our way of life to be destroyed. It may not be perfect, but it's better than the alternative. We want to go forward into the 21st century, not be blown back into the third century as the Taliban would prefer.

U.S. leaders have repeatedly stressed that this is not a religious war; it is not a war against Islam. It is a war against Islamic extremists bent on destroying America and freedom. It is a war against those who cheer and celebrate in the streets when Americans are murdered.

This is a war that will last much longer than five weeks. It's a vastly different kind of war than previous conflicts. It's like the Jetsons fighting the Flintstones. Our jets and missiles weren't designed to go after shadowy figures in caves.

Unlike some publicity-hogging pundits who engage their mouths before their brains, I don't have any answers. I do have fears -- fears about what will happen to our way of life if we don't eliminate fanatics who want to stamp out freedom.

We can't allow our resolve to fight terrorism to wane. We can't forget the thousands of people who were senselessly murdered in a fight we didn't start.

We can't give up. Our way of life is at stake.