“Until the millennium arrives and countries cease trying to enslave others, it will be necessary to accept one’s responsibilities and to be willing to make sacrifices for one’s country — as my comrades did. As the troops used to say, ‘If the country is good enough to live in, it’s good enough to fight for.’ With privilege goes responsibility.”

–  E.B. Sledge “With the Old Breed”

And so PFC Sledge concludes his epic memoir of the fighting on Peleiu and Okinawa.  Unfortunately, as we have learned through these last seven years, the millennium has arrived and countries have not ceased enslaving others. What makes this conclusion remark most striking is it concludes a tome that speaks of the horror of combat and that warns future generations to stay out of war at all costs. Sledge’s remark however reflects what the modern Left does not understand, evil exists in the world and sometimes ugly things must be done to confront it.   Hopefully, President-Elect Obama will learn this to be true very soon — if he already has not already done so.  Despite what the whacko Left thinks we are not at war to make Dick Cheney rich or because George Bush wanted to establish an era of American imperialism, we are at war because groups like Al-Qaeda want to enslave America and we have a responsibility to future generations to make sure that does not happen.  Yes, we should use every ounce of diplomacy to prevent war.  But, what sort of diplomacy does one suggest against an enemy who’s stated purpose is our annihilation?