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the United States begins to strike back at the spawning grounds
of terror, the American people would do well to keep in mind the
wartime words of Winston Churchill. In the early hours of World
War II, he directed the British military "to strike heavy and
unexpected blows" at Hitler's war machine. Months later, after
the first hint of success in Egypt, he added on ominous caveat:
"This is not the end — this is not even the beginning of the
end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
His message
was unmistakable: Audacity mixed with patience will produce victory.
Patience has
never been a virtue for Americans. This is, after all, the land
of fast food, FedEx, and fax machines. It's little wonder why the
past quarter century has been marked by a series of push-button,
almost bloodless wars. In the shadow of Vietnam, each mini-war conditioned
the American people to expect less blood and less sacrifice than
the previous conflict. And this, in turn, has conditioned the American
military to be overly cautious, curbing its audacity and leading
inevitably to more low-risk, low-impact wars. The cycle must end
now.
The only way
we can win this first war of the 21st century is if the American
military matches the enemy's audacity and the American people imitate
his patience. History reminds us that we have the capacity to do
both. These early blows of our vengeance, like Doolittle's, may
be swift and satisfying, but victory will not be. Indeed, it cannot
be, if this war is to achieve what most Americans demand — the end
to terrorism itself.
Once it is
unfettered, the U.S. military can be the most audacious and fearsome
force on earth. Japan realized that on April 18, 1942, just four
months after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Doing the unthinkable,
Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle used Navy aircraft carriers to launch Army
bombers into the skies over Tokyo. The bombers arrived in broad
daylight, throwing a stunning counter-punch at Japan's once-invulnerable
homeland and foreshadowing the war's devastating final blow.
When all seemed
lost in Korea, it was MacArthur who did the impossible by swinging
around and behind the massive communist armies and landing some
70,000 troops at Inchon. In a matter of days, they recaptured Seoul,
smashed the communist invaders and reversed the momentum of the
Korean War. The war would rage for another two and a half years,
but South Korea's existence would never be threatened after MacArthur's
daring amphibious landings.
Yet America's
special brand of audacity doesn't always manifest itself with bullets
and bombs. When Stalin tried to squeeze the allies out of Berlin
by blockading the city's western half, the United States used a
mix of restraint and resolve to win the first battle of the Cold
War.
It was Lt.
Gen. Curtis LeMay who led the American Air Force into that battle,
blending the principles of strategic bombing with the efficiency
and ingenuity of a Detroit assembly line. From June 28, 1948 to
September 30, 1949, U.S. pilots flew 277,000 missions and delivered
2.3 million tons of supplies into Berlin. Landing every three minutes,
the planes sent a simple message to Moscow: Berlin will remain free,
and the West will not be bullied out of town.
During those
15 months of brinkmanship, the United States showcased not just
its military might, political resolve, and seemingly boundless industrial
capacity, but its unique ability to balance all of these in the
pursuit of its national interests.
Although the
Cold War would continue for decades, the Berlin Airlift laid the
foundation for everything that followed — on both sides of the Iron
Curtain. With the world watching, the siege and subsequent rescue
of Berlin exposed the stark differences between the two postwar
superpowers. One looked like a common street thug, bullying his
neighbors to extort protection money. The other resembled Hercules,
swooping down from Olympus to defend the defenseless. Moscow would
never fully recover, and Washington would never retreat.
Which brings
us to the other half of Churchill's formula for victory — patience.
Yes, America's
attention span has grown short in this age of email and cell phones.
And yes, we are the heirs of Doolittle's mid-day lightning strike,
MacArthur's beach-krieg and LeMay's assembly line in the sky. But
we are also the victors of the Cold War and the conquerors of Stalinism.
We have lived through other times of terror — in the dark shadows
of nuclear stalemate, when our very existence was in the balance
every hour of every day. We have waged and won long, twilight struggles
before. We have outlasted other enemies. And with equal parts audacity
and patience, we can do it again.
The masterminds
of September 11 had plenty of both. Only time will tell if we will
match them. To paraphrase Churchill, this is just the beginning
of the beginning.
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