By Graham Glover –

Last week President Obama addressed the American people about his plan to combat the terrorists who call themselves ISIS (ISIL). There is no doubt that ISIS is pure evil and deserving of whatever wrath the American military brings upon them. While we pray for their souls and that they will turn from their sadistic ways, no rational person can deny the justice that they are due.

Whether you found the president’s speech politically ironic, spot on, or full of shortcomings, his words solidified for me the reality that our country is engaged in a perpetual and everlasting war against terror. This is a war that every American must now accept, support, and embrace. There is no alternative – no other position one can take.

It’s been 13 years since radical Muslim terrorists inflicted a death blow to America. Since that day our nation has been at war. This war has never ended and I believe it never will. Some thought it was over when President Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared “Mission Accomplished”. Five years later this same president initiated a military surge in Iraq that brought the terrorists in that country to their knees and, at least temporarily, found some sense of stability. When President Obama took office he was quick to pull American troops out of Iraq, fulfilling a platform the American people seemed to embrace. But this same president was just as eager for his own military surge, this time in Afghanistan. Again, some sense of stability was found there, but now that our troops are coming home, nobody knows what awaits the Afghan people. The cause that American troops have fought and bled over for over a decade could, in the years ahead, remain uncertain.

In other words, this war is not over. Victory is not ours. Our cause is not finished. Our enemy has not been defeated. And I see no way in which this war will end anytime soon. I fully expect my children and their children to be fighting this same war. So dig in my fellow citizens. Accept this cold, hard reality. Support this war. And embrace America’s need to eradicate the evil that our nation’s bravest have been fighting against for the past 13 years.

We can debate what brought us to this point ad nauseum. It doesn’t matter. Our enemy is real and they are willing to fight to their death.

They relish in our petty debates. For they will sacrifice themselves, their families, and anyone who can help advance their evil cause while our people bicker over the particulars of why they do what they do. But hear me when I say that our enemy hates everything we represent. They hate our religion(s). They hate our government. They hate our values. They hate our people. They hate everything about us. For the likes of ISIS, diplomacy is not an option. They will never negotiate. Their only solution is to see their “religion” imposed on the entire world. Democracy…never. Freedom…never. Liberty…never. But, barbarism…forever. Tyranny…forever. Violence…forever. This is our enemy and they are committed to their cause with a vigor the world has ever known.

Now and indefinitely, every American must support our president, the Congress, and our military in its perpetual struggle against this enemy. We cannot waiver in this support. It must be unconditional and without reservation. But words are cheap. Our nation needs more than rhetoric. It needs our money. Prior to this war, every time our nation took up arms it asked its citizens to contribute to the cause. And now, we should do this. We must do this. If this means higher taxes, so be it. No expense should be spared in ensuring we have every ability to fight our enemy in every corner of the globe for years on end. Money isn’t the only thing our nation needs. It needs our sons and daughters to give of themselves in service to the greatest nation in the history of civilization. Without them (and more of them), we stand no chance against an enemy who grows every single day. Finally, our nation needs our political resolve. This war could last for centuries. The consequences will be felt by every one of us for our entire life. But our patience cannot wear thin. We must remain committed. We must support this war. We cannot fail in destroying this evil.

My friends, accept it. Support it. Embrace it. Our nation is at war and it will be for a very, very long time.