Not for the medals

By Nancy Salvato
web posted September 6, 2004

I was overwhelmed by sadness as I watched footage of the
teachers and half naked children being carried away from the
Russian school building where they were held hostage by
terrorists the last 3 days. Many children had not been allowed to
even drink water in the near 100 degree heat of the gym, where
they were locked up as hostages. Although Vladimir Putin
refused negotiations with the terrorists, it is unclear whether the
Russian forces attempted to storm the gym or if the hostages
decided to try an escape.

In the early hours of the morning, the terrorists set off bombs and
shot hostages attempting to flee, then used hostages as human
shields as they ran out of the school yard. There were dozens of
deaths, this in the wake of a previous disaster; two planes which
were exploded mid air by bombs apparently planted in the
toilets. This, too, the work of terrorists who left behind a little
under one hundred scattered remains of dead bodies.

This is the enemy that President George W. Bush is trying to
flush out by saying that he will continue America's fight against
terror in any country that harbors these forces of evil; who make
no distinctions between child or adult, civilian or soldier, right or
wrong. President Bush doesn't want to see these horrific acts
happening on U.S. soil, or anywhere else in the world.

Those who protest the war against terror and claim that the
deaths of our soldiers are in vain should reevaluate the premise
on which they make these assertions. Our military forces do not
fight against Islamic militants for oil or for money to line the
pockets of the Bush administration. Our President has committed
our forces to do battle against those whose goal is to terrorize
the innocent and make unsafe our world so that we don't have to
again experience these types of atrocities on U.S. soil.

President Bush made it clear that this type of evil can only grow
in countries where people aren't free to develop a sense of
purpose, or hope or allowed dignity. These forces of evil have
been bred to hate. There is no negotiating with a person void of
conscience. There is no way to fight a more sensitive war against
this type of personality. We need to weed out this evil at the
source. Otherwise, we will be afraid to send our own children to
school. We will be afraid to go to New York. We will hole up in
our homes and forget how to live.

Of all the issues that President Bush wants to address: school
reform, the tax code, tort reform, Medicare, social security; they
are all trumped by one important concern and that is the security
of our country. Our President has the foresight to build a safer
world so that all of these issues have meaning and relevance. If
we cannot step outside our homes for fear of terrorist attack,
then none of it matters anyway. We will have lost our own sense
of purpose and hope and dignity.

I don't want to turn on the news and find out the terrorists have
succeeded in putting the countries of this world on the run. I have
faith that the United States, under President Bush's leadership,
will put the terrorists on the run and that every last spider hole
harboring every last terrorist will be uncovered and that once
again we will be able to take for granted that our streets are safe
from the evil that had been allowed to grow for too long before
we were under Bush's watch.

I wonder how many of the children who were able to walk out
of that Russian school building alive will ever be able to see
school as a place to learn and grow and make friends. The acts
of a dozen terrorists may have completely shattered their
childhood. They may always be plagued by haunting images of
their classmates and teachers being shot or blown up; shell
shocked and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder for the
rest of their days. Children are supposed to be our hope and our
future. We should be willing and committed to fight for their
future.
 
Too many of us take for granted that we, too, are the
beneficiaries of those who put their lives on the line for our
childhoods and our futures. Fortunately, we are a country that
breeds heroes who found their strength and calling in the wake of
9/11. We are the strongest nation in the world –the last
superpower, and have been compelled to take the frontlines in
this historic battle of freedom against evil. And we "shall prevail".
Heroes will step forward…for the sake of our children, not for
the medals.

Nancy Salvato is a contractor with Prism Educational
Consulting. She serves as Educational Liaison to IL Sen. Ray
Soden. She works nationally and locally furthering the cause of
Civic Education. Her writing has been recognized by the US
Secretary of Education. © Nancy Salvato 2004

Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com