Monday evening, I received an e-mail from Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report saying that a video showing the barbaric desecration of the bodies of two American soldiers killed in Iraq last month had just been released on a terrorist Web site and that he was going to make the video available to those who requested it.
This was certainly not unexpected. The release of the video fit the pattern seen in terrorist tortures and beheadings over the past few years with the first high profile case being that of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Afghanistan.
The fact that it was expected did little to soften the almost physical blow I felt when I read it though — like a punch in the gut. It drained me emotionally to read the brief description of what was depicted on the video, but I almost felt a responsibility to read it. I chose not to view the video because I did not think I could bear to have that image in my mind for eternity.
I didn’t need to see the video to know the terrorist threat we face is real. The description alone was enough to remind me that we face a bloodthirsty evil that almost defies comprehension. Even without viewing the horrific images, I honor the threat that cannot be appeased, but only destroyed.
There are many, however, who do not take the threat of Islamic terrorism seriously. It has been almost five years since we experienced a terrorist attack at home. Americans have been shielded from many of the images of Sept. 11 that reminded us of the reality, and the brutality, of the threat.
As horrible as the image of the recent video must be, I couldn’t help but think that maybe some of those who have forgotten, or who never fully recognized the extent of evil we face, should see it. Could anyone watch such a thing and remain complacent about the threat of terrorism?
Sometimes it seems that all the evil in the world has just recently decided to show itself at once, although I know that many of those horrors have been around for ages. When I see women send their children to blow themselves up in Gaza, or read of the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein and his sons, or read about rape victims being punished in Iran, or “honor killings” in Jordan, orhear the gruesome details of beheadings and mutilations in Afghanistan or Iraq, I often find the information almost impossible to process.
Those are the times I am thankful for a president who not only recognizes the evil we face, but is committed to fighting it. President Bush declared the murderous actions of the jihadists “evil” immediately after Sept. 11 and was often ridiculed for using the word.
After all we have now seen, it is impossible to deny the evil that we face, although there are still some who try to justify or diminish it. Some even try to do so by equating the evils of terrorism to the criminal actions of a few American soldiers. Thankfully the current administration does not.
On Sept. 21, 2004, a day after news of the beheading of an American contractor, the vice president gave a speech in Ohio which included the following statement, which is every bit as true now as it was then: “Today we face an enemy every bit as intent on destroying us as the Axis powers were in World War II. And from the night of Sept. 11 to this day, America has left no doubt about where we stand. We have no illusions about the nature of this struggle, or the character of the enemy we face.
“The reports of the beheading of an American hostage yesterday are another reminder of the evil we face. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jack Armstrong’s family. His death is one more reminder that this is not an enemy we can reason with, or negotiate with, or appease. This is, to put it simply, an enemy that we must destroy.”
There are arguments that can be made on both sides of the issue of the war in Iraq, and how the action there affects the overall war on terror. There are also debates that should be had about how vigorously terrorist suspects should be interrogated and when and how various rights should be recognized and weighed against potential threats posed.
What should not be lost in those debates, however, is the realization of the seriousness and undeniable evil of the threat we face.
Lorie Byrd is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and blogs at Wizbang.com.
