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Celebrating Liberty, Happiness And A Nation Worth Defending
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Published: July 4, 2008
Today's celebration of Independence Day includes a sobering, patriotic coincidence. In June, 56 U.S. troops died fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's exactly how many signatures are on the Declaration of Independence, a document our enemies would burn if they had the chance.
As in 1776, today's fight is about defending good ideas against bad ones. The American view is the same as it was 232 years ago: It is self-evident that humans should be free.
Our side believes in democracy, individual liberties and scientific progress. Our terrorist opponents put an irrational faith in a static form of religious despotism that shares characteristics with fascism.
How best to defeat this uncompromising and suicidal foe is a source of vigorous debate among patriotic Americans and their allies. Many doubt the necessity of the occupation of Iraq. And as the fighting in Afghanistan continues into its seventh year, it is fair to ask how far away victory might be.
Last month 45 coalition troops, including 27 Americans, were killed in Afghanistan, the most since the initial invasion. It was a higher causality count than in Iraq, where 29 Americans and two allies died.
The Taliban and its terrorist supporters are operating from the protection of Pakistan's rugged mountains, where Osama bin Laden might be hiding. Yet Pakistan refuses to allow our troops, or Afghan troops, to invade the border country to get him.
According to the Washington Times, Pakistan does allow the CIA to search for bin Laden and to immediately target him, wherever he is, with a killer drone aircraft. The sooner that happens, the better.
Whatever bin Laden's fate, the Taliban remains a threat. Last month its commandos successfully raided a prison in downtown Kandahar. U.S. supply convoys coming from Pakistan are sometimes attacked and burned.
But the real U.S. challenge is with the attitude of the people there. A recent poll from Pakistan said that half the people blame the United States for the violence and only 8 percent blame al-Qaida.
With the Taliban resurgent in the east and drug gangs and warlords prevalent in the west, the U.S. military in Afghanistan is asking for about 10,500 more troops. Liberty is certainly proving to be a hard product to export
It is tempting to assume the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan can duplicate the success of George Washington if given enough firepower. But it is worth looking back at the civic atmosphere in which the Declaration of Independence was signed and U.S. liberty secured.
In 1789 the nation's population was 2.78 million. That's about 5 percent of the present combined population of Iraq and Afghanistan. The new country was small, but the pioneers were determined to improve themselves and their world.
About the time Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine published the first article supporting women's rights. That same year, Phi Beta Kappa was founded at William & Mary College, and a few years later Benjamin Franklin invented bi-focal glasses.
Americans during that period came up with the torpedo, a crude submarine, and the first mechanically driven boat. Even before they declared independence, the early Congress started a postal system.
The founders and the enterprising people they represented were far from perfect. But the nation from its earliest days was worth dying for.
It still is, which is the reason for fireworks and flag-waving.
Freedom offers much to all and its defense demands much of a few: sometimes their happiness, sometimes their fortunes, and sometimes their lives.
A harder question is when our own interests require such sacrifices be made for the freedom of those who don't appear to honor it.
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