Washington, D.C.— The very week Secretary Rumsfeld has to spend time defending himself from shallow political attacks is one that is very important to his own report card. This week, Chemical Ali is being prosecuted by his very own country. This week, Saddam is sitting in an Iraqi prison, awaiting his trial. This week marks one month until Iraqis finally have the taste of truly electing their own leaders, for the first time in 5,000 years. 

Under the direction of Secretary Rumsfeld, the United States military has defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan, removed the brutal dictator in Iraq and captured 43 of Iraq’s 55 most wanted.

During the 1990s, the terrorists outsmarted and outran the United States military.  In
four years, Secretary Rumsfeld has transformed the entire outdated and conventional armed forces program into an innovative modern day force required to fight contemporary terrorism.

This week he's been the target of nothing more than a full-scale public relations assault, fed by the media, which has snowballed into question of his job performance. It’s no different if the critic is a Democrat or Republican, when you remove those with their
own eye on the presidency, the field of Rumsfeld critics is pretty thin.

Attacking our leader of the War on Terror sends a deadly message to the insurgents. Send the message that our own people think the United States is weak, and the insurgents will presume we are weak. It sends the message to the Iraqi people that we don’t believe in what we’re fighting for- the very same freedom that allows us to live our lives without fear. I challenge critics to find an American who would rather live in fear of having a body part cut or shot off, fear of being murdered and thrown into a massive grave and fear of the very people whose job it is to protect you.

And if you don’t believe the terrorists are watching high-profile U.S. politicians attack President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld on our national news, think again. The most frightening part about the new age of terrorism is they are observers, they are planners, and they believe they have a religious mandate to eliminate those of particular religion or race. They have laptops and GPS systems, and they calculate their own impact on political elections.

These recent cheap strikes on the Secretary of Defense are merely for political gain, and they discourage the very people who sacrifice their holidays, their families, their hot showers and sometimes their lives.  By the nature of the war they’re fighting, the War on Terror is tough. Those on the front lines must know that American political leaders believe in them, and they are there to impact history.

Unfortunately, President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld have had to make one of the most agonizing decisions humans make – if something is worth fighting for, and it will cost a lot, is it still worth fighting for?  And every single one of those sacrifices made by men and women in the field were not made in vain.

The United States of America did not get its freedom peacefully or quickly. It may take a while to realize the stock we are putting into our own safety, but, like the end of the Cold War, America will eventually see why strong leadership was so important.

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