This past spring I grew increasingly frustrated by the rhetoric American leaders used to defend the "war on terror" It seemed to me, that most Republicans (especially President Bush) were doing a terrible job of explaining to the American people exactly what makes this conflict so important. The American people wanted to know (with good reason) exactly why U.S. civilians were being burned alive in Fallujah, or beheaded in Tikrit. But our leaders either couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us. This failure to eloquently state the underlying reasons for our current policies seriously eroded the President’s support, and imperiled our effort to win this war. To me, the answer was clear. And watching the President fumble through yet another press conference without stating it, frustrated me beyond belief. We aren’t fighting just to defeat terrorism. We aren’t fighting simply to prevent the spread of WMDs. We are fighting to spread freedom and liberty in a region where it has absent for too long.
In July of 2003, British PM Tony Blair agreed, stating: “That is what this struggle against terrorist groups or states is about. We're not fighting for domination. We're not fighting for an American world, though we want a world in which America is at ease. We're not fighting for Christianity, but against religious fanaticism of all kinds. And this is not a war of civilizations, because each civilization has a unique capacity to enrich the stock of human heritage. We are fighting for the inalienable right of humankind - black or white, Christian or not, left, right or a million different - to be free, free to raise a family in love and hope, free to earn a living and be rewarded by your efforts, free not to bend your knee to any man in fear, free to be you so long as being you does not impair the freedom of others. That's what we're fighting for. And it's a battle worth fighting.”
As stirring as that argument was, it was seldom heard by Americans over the next 12 months. Increasingly frustrated, I asked myself, “What do I want to hear my President say?” As I sat down and began to write, I put myself in the President’s shoes. “What would I say if I were President?” “How would I make the argument?” The speech I came up with; although amateurishly written, is my view on where we are as a Nation, where I want us to go, and why we must fight to protect it.