Letter: How many wake-up calls do we need?

Monday, May 29, 2006 | 6:58 a.m.

Phil Ventura's May 25 letter, "Ensign's war rhetoric is just plain wrong," misses the point of the battle in Iraq. Mr. Ventura states: "Neither our freedom of speech nor our right to protest was ever threatened by this Iraqi tyrant and his third-rate military." What Mr. Ventura does not understand is that the battle in Iraq is but one battle in the ongoing Global War against Terrorism.

The events on Dec. 7, 1941, awakened a "sleeping giant." Neither my grandparents nor my parents ever referred to the "Guadalcanal War," or the "War in Iwo Jima.'' They understood that these were battles in the war against fascism, totalitarianism and imperialism.

Decades later, after ignoring the threat of worldwide terrorism, the 9/11 attack once again awakened the sleeping giant. President Bush and Congress reacted appropriately and declared war against terrorism worldwide. Eighty percent of the American people supported that decision. Now, years later - years during which our warriors have prevented new terrorist-caused deaths on American soil - nearly 70 percent of Americans have once again fallen asleep or forgotten 9/11 and want to cut and run.

All Americans who have forgotten 9/11 or believe that the Global War against Terrorism (World War III if you will) is just a conspiracy to benefit Bush's oil buddies and Halliburton, can rest assured that as soon as the free world lets its guard down, there will be more terrorist attacks perpetrated on a much grander scale.

F. Jay Harrell, Las Vegas