The Hidden Enemy
This is Steven Petrick Posting.
By now, I am sure all of you are aware that it has been six years since the reality that modern technology makes the commission of atrocity on a mass scale far easier than in times past.
What you may not be aware of, or have given much thought to, is that the hidden enemy is our own complacency.
Six years have passed, and many of us increasingly take the view that there is no real danger. We have not again been attacked on our own soil, or had our own technology used against us, so we are again safe.
The continued conflict is increasingly seen as merely an annoyance to our daily lives.
Many of us hear the siren calls of leaders that all we need do is withdraw from the fight, and we as a nation can return to our slumbers. This siren call, which preys on our need to believe that we are safe in a world in which another attack needs only a further reduction in our national vigilance is not a new thing, needs to be resisted.
If you listen to these voices, if you accept the sirens call, then our nation will find itself on the rocky shore of disaster.
The truth is, as has been said, we are engaged in a generational conflict. It will not end just because we turn our backs on it. Indeed, the concept that we will do so is the very basis of our enemy's long term strategy. That Democracies and Republics can only wage war so long as the people are willing to do so, and the people do not have the strength of will to maintain a conflict on the long haul. They would rather pretend that there is no danger, until they are again confronted with.
We are the people. We must remain committed to winning the fight over the long haul, or by "declaring victory" short of a final one, find ourselves accepting a chain of small defeats. A chain of events that future historians will say "here is where they lost the will to win and their decline began."
We must bear the burden of the long war, we must out-last our enemy, or we may as well surrender now.
The hidden enemy is ourselves, we the people. We must keep our vision fixed on victory and not allow ourselves to lose heart. The enemy cannot defeat us on the field of battle, but the hidden enemy in our own hearts can destroy us.
By now, I am sure all of you are aware that it has been six years since the reality that modern technology makes the commission of atrocity on a mass scale far easier than in times past.
What you may not be aware of, or have given much thought to, is that the hidden enemy is our own complacency.
Six years have passed, and many of us increasingly take the view that there is no real danger. We have not again been attacked on our own soil, or had our own technology used against us, so we are again safe.
The continued conflict is increasingly seen as merely an annoyance to our daily lives.
Many of us hear the siren calls of leaders that all we need do is withdraw from the fight, and we as a nation can return to our slumbers. This siren call, which preys on our need to believe that we are safe in a world in which another attack needs only a further reduction in our national vigilance is not a new thing, needs to be resisted.
If you listen to these voices, if you accept the sirens call, then our nation will find itself on the rocky shore of disaster.
The truth is, as has been said, we are engaged in a generational conflict. It will not end just because we turn our backs on it. Indeed, the concept that we will do so is the very basis of our enemy's long term strategy. That Democracies and Republics can only wage war so long as the people are willing to do so, and the people do not have the strength of will to maintain a conflict on the long haul. They would rather pretend that there is no danger, until they are again confronted with.
We are the people. We must remain committed to winning the fight over the long haul, or by "declaring victory" short of a final one, find ourselves accepting a chain of small defeats. A chain of events that future historians will say "here is where they lost the will to win and their decline began."
We must bear the burden of the long war, we must out-last our enemy, or we may as well surrender now.
The hidden enemy is ourselves, we the people. We must keep our vision fixed on victory and not allow ourselves to lose heart. The enemy cannot defeat us on the field of battle, but the hidden enemy in our own hearts can destroy us.
posted by Federation Commander at 5:51 PM
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