Fighting Heroes

Fighting Heroes

We are at war with some of the most evil, devious and irrational foes in the history of war. We are at war
with people who do not wear uniforms, kill civilians and use any means necessary to achieve terror. Their
goals are not clear cut. No doubt many have different goals. They want to kill heretics. They want to rid
their country or region of an occupying nation. They want power for themselves. Normally, understanding
how to fight an opponent involves knowing his motives. Yet we seem not to know why we are being killed.
Only that those doing the killing are evil.
Perhaps that is our first mistake. Not many people are truly evil, not in the sense of doing evil to be evil.
Deep down everyone thinks they are justified in what they do. How do you beat someone who is willing to
kill you by killing themselves? You find out why they are killing themselves, why you are worth their own
death and you make that reason obsolete.
We must all realize that these murderers, these terrorists are heroes. We must understand that they view
themselves as heroes. Many of those around them view them as heroes as well. Fighting a hero is much
different than fighting a villain. They stand up against a country that aggressively invaded another. Whether
or not you supported a preemptive war, the fact remains that the United States was the aggressor, the
invader, the one who created a war. The enemy hides where he can blend in, strikes where we are weak,
does not wear a uniform, does not announce himself on the field of battle. This makes him dangerous.
Think of yourself for a moment. Your neighborhood is invaded, soldiers who do not speak your language or
understand your culture walk down the streets with guns and itchy trigger fingers. During their invasion your
daughter was killed by accident. You do not want these outsiders here, telling you what to do, killing your
family. How would you fight back? Would you put on a uniform and march out into the middle of the street
to be gunned down? Or would you engage in sabotage and guerilla tactics, the tactics the small, outgunned
troops use to fight a monster. Think to yourself, what the heroic act would be if those troops were on your
streets killing your daughter, arresting your brother and running your country.
Fighting a hero is different from fighting a villain. Heroes don’t lay down their arms. Heroes don’t give up
and talk about peace. Heroes fight to the death. There is not much that can change their minds. Yet there
must be something. Killing a hero just inspires more heroism. There must be a root cause somewhere.
Finding it is the answer to this war. Killing will only be met by more killing. Yet that is what we must settle
for until we answer the question most of us have yet to seriously ask. Why are we worth dying for? The
answer to that is the answer to terror.