Buckle up

The Washington Post reports on the latest pronouncement from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld:

“The United States is engaged in what could be a generational conflict akin to the Cold War, the kind of struggle that might last decades as allies work to root out terrorists across the globe and battle extremists who want to rule the world, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday.

“Rumsfeld, who laid out broad strategies for what the military and the Bush administration are now calling the ‘long war,’ likened al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin while urging Americans not to give in on the battle of wills that could stretch for years. He said there is a tendency to underestimate the threats that terrorists pose to global security, and said liberty is at stake.

“‘Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs,’ Rumsfeld said in a speech at the National Press Club.”

I wonder how long this “long war” may continue. I’m still young, but would like to retire before the end. After all, with so many “evil-doers” and “terrorists” to eliminate, I suspect I may be on my third pair of dentures before victory is declared.

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