A Time for Choosing

As I write this post our US Senate is once again debating the Iraq War. I do understand the despair of the American people that has brought our country to this place. We have grown weary, which is what our enemies want. But we must not travel down the road to surrender. We are a better nation than that.

Appeasement is not an option. If we stop today and leave Iraq to its own demise, we doom them and enviably ourselves. For better or worse we are that “last best hope” Ronald Reagan spoke of in 1964.

What makes us so different than the rest of the world? Why must America always be the one? Some say it is our history as the first true, free Republic, and our sense of obligation to those who seek freedom. Others would say it is our greed and imperialistic ways that drive us to dominate others.

I think the answer is far simpler. Americans know what it means to be truly free. Our faith and belief system makes us a caring nation, eager to help those in need. Our strength, though used with great reluctance, has freed slaves and rid continents of evil men who rule with dark hearts and discarded people as easy as throwing paper into the garbage.

It is times like this I wonder what Ronald Reagan would say. Though the years have passed and the names of our enemies have changed, Ronald Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech contains the answer to the Iraq question. Not the easy answer, but the morally right answer.