GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Mar. 19, 2004 -- The War on Terrorism is limping one year after its birth.   Its legs are mangled but its spirit remains strong.
     It is a bloody birthday party.   Body parts are scattered around the cake, arms, legs, fingers, toes and a jeering mob of people demanding an end to the War on Terrorism.

         A year ago, the United States with a handful of allies, launched a major attack on Saddam Hussein.   The goal was to drive Terrorism out of the mid-east.   The reverse has happened.
      Terrorism has turned on its attacker.   Like thousands of hungry termites gnawing at the wooden legs of a baby's crib, Terrorism has chewed its way into the Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies of millions of people who prefer to turn their heads and hope that the wings of Terrorism's Termites will fly over them rather than land and roost in their backyard.

      Countless nations are gloating over the failure of America to quash the Terrorism still raging in Iraq in the form of bombings and suicide attacks.   Then there was the Terrorist attack on Spain where 201 citizens of Madrid were killed and thousands wounded on the 911th day after the Terrorist attack on the United States.
       Protestors shout that the Spanish victims were singled out because Spain's government supported the War in Iraq, or, more aptly put, the War on Terrorism.
          At home, politicians vying to unseat President Bush are attacking America's policies regarding the war, and pointing to the growing list of dead and wounded versus the domestic issues that need equal attention.
           Tomorrow a giant anti-war protest is slated in New York City, one of a number designed to pressure the United States out of Iraq and to further cripple the U.S. role as the Sentinel of World Vigilance.

         One year later, the war against Terrorism seems to be smeared with feces of frustration.    The world has been reluctant to express a unified front against fighting the Beast of Terror.   Nations have divided and separated themselves from the battle, as though the threat of Terrorism was nil to them and their nations' security.
          The truth is that Terrorism will attack all the hands that feed it, and will not avoid any opportunity to claim victims regardless of how many times they have ducked and weaved in the past.    The rabid dog will slash the flesh of any victim when the rage explodes, yet, one year after the War on Terrorism, nations stand off and away from the United States on grounds that are paper thin excuses to the real threat.
          That threat is simply standing up to Terrorism.   The danger of not standing up to it offers it a license to victory.    As nations retreat into their shells, or keep themselves snug inside them, Terrorism wins.   The Fear, Intimidation and Complacency venom paralyzes all the bystanders.   It makes their feeble spines future targets for Terrorism, for if a nation runs today, it will crawl tomorrow.    

          This is an unhappy birthday.
          But, I am confident that the Sentinels of Vigilance will not let the birthday go uncelebrated.   There will be a rise in the Mothers and Fathers and Uncles and Aunts and Grandparents and Citizens and Loved Ones of Vigilance.   They will one day stand up to the Beast of Terror, despite their political leaders, for they will know that Terrorism unchecked is not a matter of national security but an issue of parental negligence.
          They will not leave their children vulnerable to the Beast of Terror's Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.   They will invoke the Principles of Vigilance--Courage, Conviction and Right Actions for the Children's Children's Children.  
           That day will come.
           Don't toss the birthday cake out yet.
           The Beast only appears to have won.
      
    

Mar 18--7:39 a.m.--Salute To Spanish Sentinels of Vigilance

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