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As long as it takes

“December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

These were the opening words to one of the most poignant presidential addresses in American history.

The “Day of Infamy” speech was delivered to Congress Dec. 8, 1941, by President Roosevelt following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The words sparked a firestorm of emotion in Americans and hastened our country’s entry into World War II.

America’s battle cry would be heard loud and clear the world over: “Remember Pearl Harbor!”

President Bush’s address to Congress and the American people on Sept. 21, 2001, in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was just as universally received as was Roosevelt’s address six decades earlier. Only now an entirely new generation of Americans demanded payback — the elimination of this reprehensible threat to our very existence.

The nature of the terrorist menace we face is abysmal. Sept. 11, 2001 — our day of infamy — showed clearly the tenacity of an enemy bent on hate, destruction and mayhem, an enemy that, armed with little more than box cutters, caused devastation comparable to the entirety of the imperial Japanese assault force with its 353 war planes.

The attacks of Sept. 11 resulted in the deaths of 2,998 people in a single day. The overwhelming majority of casualties were noncombatant men, women and children. Pearl Harbor led to the deaths of 2,345 military personnel and 57 civilians, also in the span of a single day. Arguably, the enemies we are facing now are just as detrimental to the preservation of our way of life as were Imperial Japan, Hitler’s Nazi Germany or the now-defunct Soviet Union, none of which managed to launch a successful attack within mainland America.

Over the last few years, Americans’ interest in the war on terrorism, or more specifically, the war in Iraq, has often been described as losing popularity. It may not be a popular war. But be that as it may, the battles we fight, regardless of where we fight them, are necessary. A nation in the grip of terror is by no means a truly free nation.

The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor led to a campaign in which America dedicated itself wholly to the concept of victory regardless of the cost. Likewise, the appalling devastation wrought upon our country as a result of Sept. 11 left little room for interpretation.

Iraq, surrounded by countries known to support and harbor terrorists, and once ruled over by the tyranny of our adversary Saddam Hussein, could not be ignored. There should be little doubt that our presence wherever we are engaged in the war on terrorism is essential to our near-term and long-term security. America can leave no stone unturned, for if we do, who would accept responsibility for the possible outcome?

Americans are nation builders with an understanding that open-ended occupations are rarely, if ever, successful. We will remain in Iraq and Afghanistan for as long as it takes to set the conditions that will allow these two countries to take charge of their futures, while at same time securing our own.

The war in the Pacific and in Europe during World War II culminated in the deaths of tens of thousands of U.S. service members. America could have chosen to forcefully occupy any number of defeated nations indefinitely. Instead, countries like post-war Japan and West Germany quickly became powerhouse democracies, sovereign nations completely in charge of their futures. The question begs: How might Iraq look 20 years from now? For that matter, how might the Middle East look 30, 40 or 50 years from today?

The terrorist enemy we confront is a study in fortitude — patiently planning for years, waiting in the shadows, if only to turn themselves into human bombs targeting the most vulnerable of our population. To sustain our way of life, one to which Americans have become accustomed, will require continued determination and sacrifice.

The majority of soldiers I’ve known throughout my 24 years of active-duty service are not advocates for war. I venture to say that neither are the majority of Americans. Yet I’ve never met a soldier or a civilian who wasn’t an advocate for winning a war. If this is a fight of wills, which I believe that it is, then to endure we must be of the greater will.

Ironically, the true measure of victory in terms of the global war on terrorism might well be the measure of what doesn’t happen as opposed to what does. If airliners never again crash into buildings full of innocent civilians, if chemical attacks are never unleashed upon our loved ones and if our landmarks remain unscathed, then let this be a testament to the unwavering commitment and sacrifices of all Americans who have remained focused on seeing the war through to its completion.

“With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people — we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.” These are the final words spoken by President Roosevelt in his speech to the Congress on Dec. 8, 1941.

“Fellow citizens, we’ll meet violence with patient justice, assured of the rightness of our cause and confident of the victories to come,” President Bush said in his address to the American people on Sept. 21, 2001. The address was met with unanimous applause by both houses of Congress.

We crave life and liberty with an unrivaled intensity. We Americans are so tightly wound around our own personal pursuit of happiness, we often take for granted or discount altogether the cost associated with safeguarding that pursuit.

The next time you find yourself gazing from the window of your office building or home and if it is peaceful, pause for a moment and realize that the serenity you are experiencing comes with a cost — the blood of numerous sacrifices of our nation’s sons and daughters past and present.

Never forget the horrible losses suffered by our countrymen and their families on Sept. 11, 2001. Never forget the terrible anguish we all endured on that day.

Remember Sept. 11.

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The writer is with 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, in Ramadi, Iraq. An infantryman, he joined the Army in 1984.