Not as catchy as Franklin D. Roosevelt's classic 1936 line, generally considered the "I hate war" speech. But as I turned on the TV tonight with CBS News keeping a running count of combat deaths in Iraq (around 1800, if you're counting), I thought back to FDR's Chatauqua speech, which I was required to learn in the 7th grade.
We are not isolationists except insofar as we seek to isolate ourselves
completely from war. Yet we must remember that so long as war exists on earth
there will be some danger that even the nation which most ardently desires peace
may be drawn into war.
There are those who might argue that we are, in fact, not a country that desires peace. But do not forget that September 11 was forced on us - we were drawn in, as FDR would say. Iraq was an extension of that. Could we have gone to war against Hitler and not disposed of Mussolini?
I wish I could keep war from all nations, but that is beyond my power. I can at
least make certain that no act of the United States helps to produce or to
promote war. I can at least make clear that the conscience of America revolts
against war and that any nation which provokes war forfeits the sympathy of the
people of the United States. . . .
Again, some people may argue that we bring certain acts upon ourselves. Yet, anyone who provokes war (al-Qaeda hijackers, Guantanamo detainees, Iraqi insurgents) should, in fact, forfeit the sympathies of the people of the United States.
Of all the nations of the world today we are in many ways most singularly
blessed. Our closest neighbors are good neighbors. If there are remoter nations that wish us not good but ill, they know that we are strong; they know that we can and will defend ourselves and defend our neighborhood.
We seek to dominate no other nation. We ask no territorial expansion. We oppose
imperialism. We desire reduction in world armaments.
We believe in democracy; we believe in freedom; we believe in peace. We offer to every nation of the world the handclasp of the good neighbor. Let those who wish our friendship look us in the eye and take our hand. (emphasis added)
I've got news for you, friends. The Islamic extremists are going to hate us, no matter what we do. We can nuke Israel off the map for them and make Ramadan a national holiday, and it won't be good enough. So they had better learn that we can, and will, defend ourselves, our friends, and our neighborhood.
An infant democracy is alive in Iraq. It's not perfect. But the insurgents who continue to bomb Iraqi civilians as well as the occasional Allied target are the enemy of democracy, of freedom, and of peace.
I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen
blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed
lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have
seen 200 limping, exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment
of 1,000 that went forward 48 hours before. I have seen children
starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.
The daily situation in Iraq is no longer a war against oppression, against an evil dictator who supervised the genocide of his own people. It is now about terrorism - by Iraqi extremists (and their supporters) against peaceful, free Iraqis. This, as much as any, is what the war on terrorism is supposed to be about, and those 1800 who have given their lives have not done so in vain.
How can you not hate war? But more importantly, how can you not hate terrorism more?
