Diversity? Let's diversify our military might

A colleague this morning shared via email a column I regret not having seen sooner. It’s a prescient piece of journalism, one I think worthy of a full read. It says, in no uncertain terms, that we are at war against religious fanaticism -- at war for democracy and freedom itself.

Phil Lucas, the column’s author, writes: “Anybody catch Lord of the Rings? You know, the good part, the part that wasn’t fiction, the part that drew us to the books and movies because it was the truest part: the titanic struggle between good and evil, between freedom and enslavement, between the individual and the state, between the celebration of life and the worshipping of death. That’s the fight we are in, and it never ends. It just has peaks and valleys.”

There are no shades of gray in this war, and America is justified in taking up arms as it has. In this fight, we must make no apologies. There is no time for that. And we must not rest until the sun sets on victory for freedom and justice.

If a willingness to assert military prowess in defense of American people means I’m a war monger, so be it. I’m proud to wear that credential. I’d rather bear that criticism than a conscience of American deaths born of appeasement.