Time for the American left to accept responsibility for its role in causing 9/11

As we pause today to remember the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, it's equally important that as we remember the innocent lives lost and pay tribute to the first responders who died trying to save them, we explore the root causes of the attack and steel our resolve to make sure this never happens again.

Practically since that awful day, there has been a vocal crowd that suggests America look inward first; that somehow we chould change whatever it is that has fostered such hatred for us.

If we do that, then we change the very fabric of what we are as a nation. We are free and we support freedom-loving people. We believe in Israel's right to exist as granted by God himself. We sponsor no official state religion and allow people to worship as they see fit, or not at all if they so choose. And we allow women the same freedoms as men.

These are concepts that the authoritarian, Jew-hating, theocratical misogynist Muslims cannot abide. They do not honor the concepts of freedom and free will and since the United States is the shining light of the world, the radical Muslims will do what they can to destroy us.

Anyone who blames America for the attacks is both wrong and idiotic. There is no other way they can be described.

But have we terrorist enablers in our midst? Did the followers of Osama bin Laden find aid and comfort within our borders?

Without question, and this support has come from America's left. The liberals in this country and the Democratic Party power structure helped sow the seeds of destruction that took root on Sept. 11.

How? Let's start with Clinton's presidency. It might as well be gospel truth that Democrats are weak on national defense. They have never supported putting America in a place of strength. They have always favored negotiation and disarmament, failing to realize that there is no reasoning with this country's enemies. The Cold War wasn't won because of some treaty. It was won because the Soviet Union spent itself into a death spiral trying to keep up with our defense initiatives. We won the Cold War because we were strong. And that strength emanated from Ronald Reagan himself. He knew the value of a strong America.

Clinton, on the other hand, seemed intent on trying to secure goodwill with humanitarian gestures. Our military was sent to places it didn't need to be, like Bosnia, to do missions it was never intended to do, like feed people. There were no American interests to be benefitted in most of the exercises he ordered.

The cynical among us say that Monica Lewinsky was a distraction. The liberals say the legal fallout from Clinton's perjury stemming from the Lewinsky situation took his focus off the task at hand. (They're utterly wrong, but that's a different story). The truth is that Clinton was never focused on defending this country, either from enemy nations or from rogue terrorists.

This point has been brought home to roost in dramatic fashion with the revelation in the last two years that Clinton had an opportunity to take the known terrorist bin Laden into custody during his presidency, but did not.

The attack occurred only eight short months after Bush was sworn into office, true, but Clinton was the one who let the situation develop. A little action on his part may have prevented an unspeakable horror in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Due to Clinton's presidency, the terrorists were emboldened.

And the campaign of 2000 certainly did nothing to discourage them. All during the campaign. liberals constantly referred to Bush as being dumb, stupid, an imbecile, unintelligent, whatever adjective you want to choose. (It doesn't matter that subsequently he was shown to have had a better academic record than Al Gore). Terrorists listened to such things and they paid attention.

So what was the end result? America was vulnerable due to eight years of inaction by Clinton. A president had just been elected who was being called an idiot by his loud braying ideological foes. That gave bin Laden all the incentive he needed. Obviously he felt that America was weak and was being led by someone without the mental capabilities to fight back.

Bin Laden was wrong.

Today, America is a safer place. We haven't had a repeat of 9/11 due to the diligence of our protectors. One of our sworn enemies, Saddam Hussein, is out of power. Bin Laden's on the run. He's darting from cave to cave, knowing that the next time he shows his face in public will probably be the last. He can have no semblance of a normal life. He's in hiding and constantly looking over his shoulder.

Those of us who love this country and support it will never forget what happened on that awful late summer day. But we must also never forget that there are those in America who, through their political gullibility and ignorance, helped bring this about.

It is time for the American left, starting with Clinton and his supporters and including the Bush-bashers, to take their rightful share of the responsibility in causing the 2001 attacks. The liberal political mindset has always been a danger to America and to our way of life, and this was never more aptly demonstrated than five years ago today.

May God forgive their sins against their fellow countrymen.