I was taught that the colors on my flag don’t “run.”

They didn’t run when our Navy was smashed at Pearl Harbor. They didn’t run when we were driven out of the Philippines. They didn’t run when our shipping was slaughtered by U-boats. They didn’t run when the blood of our boys was smeared all over Omaha Beach, Anzio, the Bulge and a thousand other cities, fields, jungles and islands. They didn’t run when Kamikazes terrorized our sailors. And they shouldn’t run now.

On 9-11, a shameless, nameless, faceless, cowardly, terrorist enemy declared war on us, not by bombing a Pearl Harbor but by bombing New York City, the Pentagon and attempting to destroy the White House and kill our president. They didn’t use military weapons but our own planes, our own fuel and the lives of our own civilians to smash us and attack the very heart of our nation.

We were right to take the war to Afghanistan and to sadistic Saddam who has been right in the middle of all this foment. We are also right to stay in Iraq and fight an enemy that is pouring their resources into that country to destroy it and demoralize us. When we win in Iraq, Islamic Jihad terrorism loses all over the world. If we lose in Iraq (ie. “pull out”), Islamic Jihad terrorism gains all over the world and we can expect increased attacks on innocent American people. Staying the course is the only way to prevent daily Middle East terrorism from becoming our way of life.

America’s colors don’t run, they stay the course and finish the fight. The Iraqi people are paying a huge price for their freedom. Let’s make sure they get it and keep it.

— Bill Beard

Linwood