Dr. Bill Bennet and I have used the same expression for many years ... "Words matter."  It is also important to know that facing the truth matters.  The legendary entrepreneur W. Clement Stone popularized the expression, "PMA = positive mental attitude."  However Stone in later reflections would say that in addition to his PMA, he also "always had the courage to face the truth." 

Today let's put those together.  I have supported the efforts of World War IV since the beginning.  Within a week of 9-11 I was telling friends that we would have to go to Baghdad and Tehran because there was a whole string of Islamic terror creating states stretching from Syria down through Pakistan.  We were at war.  The war was not against terror, it was against a perfect storm of Militant Islam, cultural depravity in the Middle East , and hatred of Jews, Christians, and Americans.  That is the truth; face it and name it.

The President, who is not a student of history in a formal sense, was poorly counseled.  Much of that poor counsel came from Senators who thought they knew better.  They seldom do.  I said then that President Bush should go before a joint session of Congress, ala FDR, and repeat the same words, "A State of War exists..."  That is what should have been voted on.  The scholars will argue that legally a "use of force resolution" is the same thing.  Maybe constitutionally it is, but no it is not the same thing.  The words matter.   Then instead of going shopping we should have been asked to buy war bonds and send a gift to troopers going into danger.

Remember the song from World War II, "You're in the Army Mr Brown.... You and your baby went to town... She had you worried but this is war... and she won't worry you any more."  And the truth that must be faced is that when you are at war you must win and you win not by grand strategies and brilliant generalship.  You win by doing much more violence on the enemy than he can do to you.

Yesterday John Kerry blurped on about a political solution in Iraq. The man knows nothing.  That is why we are in the mess we are in.  There is no political solution until the bad guys are beaten, killed, and their base and supporters blown away.  You do not win wars by winning the hearts and minds of people.  Germany and Japan became our friends after we beat the snot out of them and let them know where history was going.  Post-war saboteurs were interrogated, sentenced quickly, given a Lucky Strike to smoke, and were shot.  In my introductory post I talked about the political illusion.  Politics solves nothing of importance when the issues of great importance and good and evil are before us.  It is blood and iron, it is force of will, it all comes down to courage.

I hope and  believe the President knows deeply what to do.  I believe he will seek to do the right thing and I hope that we all will have the courage to face the truth, free ourselves from the illusion of a political solution, and win World War IV.