I have to admit that while I've been pondering this chapter for a few days, it
was after watching GW's press conference tonight that I decided to start writ-
ing it.  I held my nose when I voted for him in 2000, and my expectations
were low.  But after tonight, I can say with full confidence, that while he may
not express it properly, he still 'GET'S IT!!!"  President George W. Bush cer-
tainly understands what the next struggle is, and what the consequences are
if we should fail.

Go to any decent museum in the world, and you'll find the obligatory image
of a child blowing a soap bubble.  The bubble represents the fragility of any
civilization.  In the last 5,000 years, there really haven't been all that many of
them, you see.  Maybe a dozen or so which truly stand out as being success-
ful for a decent length of time.  History also shows us that it doesn't take all
that much to plunge those civilizations into chaos.  While the collapse of a
civilization is complex and usually has many causes, all it takes is one group,
one bad law, or one person, to set into motion a destructive chain of events.

1914 is a good example.  One terrorist with a pistol begot World War One,
which begot the economic upheavals of the 1920s, which begot the political
crisis of the 1930s, which begot World War Two, which begot the Cold War.
Indeed, many of the root causes of the "War on Terror" stem from the rem-
nants of these previous conflicts.  That one man unleashed forces which de-
stroyed dozens of governments, displaced hundreds of ethnic groups, cost
over 200,000,000 lives to violent death, and plunged billions into poverty,
suffering, and despair.

I forget his name but I recall reading a quote from a British sociologist in an
article about two Russian grandmothers who were arrested for selling human
meat on the street in order to survive.  He said that at any given point in time,
we are always just one event away from cannibalism.  How true!  There are
many places in the world today where it is being practiced.  A good example
is in North Korea.  A recent prisoner who escaped from a concentration camp
told of a mother who ate her own infant in order to survive from starvation.
That is the level of desperation which is felt throughout many corners of the
world today.

In an allegorical sense, the families of suicide bombers are also cannibals
when they take money from organizations which motivate people to blow
themselves up for their purposes of terror.  The recent story of the Palestin-
ian boy who's mother was paid $23 for her child to kill himself is just this.  Is
she any different from the North Korean mother who placed the flesh of her
child in her mouth?  Is it more justified when the families were being paid
$25,000 a death by Saddam Hussein?  I think not!

This is the enemy we face today.  They are essentially cannibals who will
devour the flesh of their own in order to thrive.  They certainly would prefer
dining on our carcasses.  That is their intention.  Luckily for us, at least one
man understands that this is what we are facing, and he is President George
W. Bush.  And as a side note, I loved the way he ended the press conference
when he leaned forward and said, "… and the World knows I mean what I
say!"  That is the campaign slogan for 2004.  I can see the bumper stocker
now.  An image of him doing the hand-shaky-thing and the words, "I MEAN
WHAT I SAY".  Now there's conviction for yah!

The War on Terror is the aggressive side of this new struggle.  It is the reac-
tion of the extremists to what they see as a threat of the advance of Capital-
ism across the globe.  Individual liberty scares the daylights out of them. 
They firmly believe that people cannot control themselves, cannot govern
themselves.  They are wolves who see their families and neighbors as sheep
who are there to be led, sheered, and eaten.  If not through the brutality of
tribalism, or the 'enlightened' secularism of Socialism, then through some
twisted, perverted theocracy. 

America must lead the world in spreading liberty.  Capitalist-democracies is
the mantra we must practice and evangelize if we are ever to have a free,
prosperous and peaceful planet.  If Arafat had been a Capitalist instead of a
Socialist, the Palestinians would be wealthy enough after forty years of
sound economic and political policy to simply buy the land they desire to
own. 

The liberation of Iraq and nurturing a thriving, free society will have enormous
benefits throughout the region.  It's neighbors, such as Iran and Saudi Ara-
bia, would have to evolve if they intend to forestall their own internal prob-
lems as well as to survive politically. 

Historically, what made Islam one of the fastest growing religions was it's
tolerance and free market ideals.  Somewhere along the way, most likely in
the 12th Century (which seems to be where most of our present institutions
were formed), it became corrupted from within and took the wrong turn which
led to it's decline.  I have no doubt that once Iraq becomes a functioning
Capitalist-democracy, there will be a wave of liberty, prosperity, and reform
that will restore that civilization and take it to new heights.

The violence of the past few weeks in Iraq is a sign that those who oppose
liberty are getting scared and desperate.  They see the clock ticking closer
to July 1st, when they will no longer be fighting the 'evil West', but their own
people.  They feel that they must act now to disrupt the process.  Unfortun-
ately for them, we are too strong and Bush is too resolved.  He's not going
to delay the time table. 

This doesn't mean to say that the terrorists and other thugs in Iraq have lost
yet.  Plenty can still go wrong.  Time is working against them, but they still
have some left.  Part of the problem is that the Iraqis are still living in the
nightmarish shadow of Saddam.  They do not trust each other.  They are
fearful of talking or taking any overt action against the hooligans.  In time,
that mindset will change, but for now, it is up to us to keep the initiative.

To fail now in Iraq would have tremendous consequences.  For starters, as
Bush said, it would embolden our adversaries.  For a while, North Korea had
been quietly going along with multilateral discussions concerning their wea-
pons programs.  But since this latest outbreak of violence in Iraq, and their
perception from how our own media is depicting the situation, the North
Koreans have been making some threatening noises again.  Other nations
and al Qaeda will view our failure as a sign that they can do what they please
and do they shall.

Imagine the havoc that would be caused when a WMD (Weapon of Mass
Destruction or Disruption) is used on one or more American cities.  Notice
that I said when and not if, for barring some miracle, that day will surely hap-
pen.  Aside from the toll in immediate casualties, such an event would plunge
our nation into a deeper panic than 9/11 caused.  It would certainly disrupt,
if not completely tank, the economy.  A sufficiently devastating attack may
result in a less rational leader (like John Kerry) to use zero restraint in seek-
ing revenge.  It could begin a long and bloody shooting war across the globe,
and not the low-intensity type we are fighting now.  I'm talking hundreds of
millions of dead.  Even billions.

America is the largest market.  If we slide into a depression, the effects will
be massive chaos world-wide.  Starvation, plague, etc.  The whole nine yards
of misery and death.  The potential for a new Dark Age looms on the horizon
should events go against us.  The result of which would be losing perhaps
a third or more of the world's population in a relatively short period of time. 
This is why maintaining our civilization is critical.  I agree that we can always
improve on it, and improve we shall, given the time and effort.  But a radical
shift in the balance of power, of trade, and in overall stability, would have
ramifications we have never seen before.  I do know about you, but frankly,
I'd rather win this war than lose it.  GW also has seen into the abyss since
9/11, and he, too, knows we MUST win this struggle.