While Americans sat in front of their televisions watching pundits sort through the rhetoric of the Republican Nation Convention, Russians watched an atrocity of seldom-reached proportions unfold before their eyes. The occupation of a school by Chechen terrorists left over 330 people dead and hundreds more wounded. The terrorists slaughtered adults and children alike in cold blood.
The school attack follows the previous week’s simultaneous jet bombings and a subway bombing — just some of the most recent acts in Russia’s struggle with terror. While the Russian attacks seem distant to America, we can’t forget that similar atrocities are becoming more and more common all around the globe and that even here in America, we are not impervious.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Russian people that since the fall of the USSR, Russia has become weak and that “weak people are beaten.” Putin went on to say, according to CNN, that “We must create a much more effective system of security. We must demand that our security forces act at a level appropriate to the level and scope of the new threats.” Putin is one hundred percent correct. The threat from Islamic fundamentalism is very real and it isn’t going away anytime soon. The way to defeat it, as Putin recognizes, is not to fight a “sensitive war,” but to beef up security to keep terrorists outside of your borders and to go on the offensive to eliminate them where they live.
The RNC has been attracting criticism from the left for seeming more like a 9/11 memorial than a convention. These criticisms couldn’t be more off base. The single most important issue in this election is terrorism and security. There are people out there who want Americans dead and appeasement is not an option for them. As Zell Miller said in his keynote address, “Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in. And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family? The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight.”
Terrorism is the issue this year. The economy, taxes, health care, civil unions, and abortion don’t really mean much to the people who died when the Twin Towers fell and they won’t mean much to the people who may fall victim to future terror attacks. John Kerry has said that if America is attacked, we will respond swiftly. That’s just not good enough. We have already been attacked and there are people out there actively trying to attack us again. We need an administration that recognizes this fact. The war on terror has just started and we are in it for the long haul.
As a result of the recent attacks in Russia, we will most likely have a new ally in this war. Putin finally recognizes what he should have recognized after the theater attack, that Russia, like the United States, is extremely vulnerable to massive terror attacks and that a new level and scope of security is necessary to meet the terror threat.
The Russian school massacre should serve as a reminder, not just to Americans, but also to people around the world that Islamic fundamentalist terror can strike anyone, anywhere, at any time, and the number one priority of every administration around the world needs to be the eradication of terrorist organizations and the regimes that support them. President Bush promises in his second term to continue doing everything in his power to achieve this goal. His opponent on the other hand promises to bring American troops home from Iraq. John Kerry is not the kind of leader this country needs. We need a president who is going to ensure that the next school to fall into the hands of terrorists is not on American soil. The consequences for perpetrating acts of terror need to outweigh the possible benefits. If John Kerry becomes president, this will not be the case. This year’s RNC may have had a tribute to 9/11, but that is what matters this year. This election is about who can protect us from terror, not who was a hero in Vietnam.
Adam Smith ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics and political science.
