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December 7th, 1941...a date which will live in infamy. Sixty-two years ago the United States was attacked, without warning, by a nation bent on dominating much of the world with a totalitarian regime. Japan's goal in attacking the United States was to deliver a knockout blow that would cripple the United States and prevent it from interfering with their plans to dominate much of the world.

Similarly, on September 11th, 2001 we were attacked without warning by a group determined to subject the world to terrorism in order to achieve their goals. The similarities between the place where the United States stood in 1941 and where we stand today do not end with a surprise attack on our nation.

Both then and now, the fight is one for the survival of our way of life. The world will be dominated by those who rule with fear and terror if we lose this fight. During World War II Americans came together after the attack on Pearl Harbor and used that memory to fuel the determination that we as a nation would win the war. After September 11th, our nation began to come together but our resolve to win has been weakened. Those who do not cherish what the United States symbolizes or what it means, both to its people and to the world, work to weaken our resolve. The concern of those people is only for themselves and their political cause.

It is not a stretch to say that if we fail to remember the lessons of our Revolutionary War—united we stand, divided we fall—our defeat will be the same as if our enemies defeated us militarily. Because of that, our fight is twofold: a fight against the external enemy and a fight against the internal enemy.

During World War II, there was an understanding among all the people that great sacrifices would have to be made in order to win the war. Families went without meat (at least) one day a week so that more would be available for the soldiers. (That being a time before fashionable vegetarianism.) Today we enjoy overflowing grocery stores and tolerate strikes by grocery workers! During World War II gasoline was severely rationed, and people were reminded that riding alone was meant you rode with our enemies because of the waste of valuable resources. Today we whine if the price of gasoline approaches two dollars a gallon. Our tolerance for sacrifice appears to be limited to watching the war on news channels as long as it does not interfere with important stories like Michael Jackson, the current cast of "Survivor!" or watching Hollywood personalities who think playing a politician in a movie makes them qualified to pontificate on foreign policy.

The generation that came of age all those years ago, a generation that has been referred to as America's "Greatest Generation", knew what real sacrifice was, and embraced it with the knowledge that such sacrifices ensured the freedom not only of the United States, but of the world. In today's society, a large number of people are operating under the delusion that if they cover their eyes and turn away from oppression they will remain safe. They also believe that making sacrifices means they have somehow lost their "rights" as Americans. While September 11th woke up many people who thought that way before our nation was attacked, many still operate under the assumption that this is all a game, and that their "side" needs to win, even if it means the United States must lose.

Such behavior threatens us all, because it encourages our external enemies to continue to attack the United States, believing that the internal enemies will carry the day if enough pain is inflicted upon the United States. As a youth I never quite understood why an oath of office would include the phrase "all enemies, foreign and domestic" until I realized that even though some people live in the United States, and have spent most (if not all) of their lives here, they do not like this country, what it stands for or the other people who live here. That describes many of the people who currently oppose our war on terrorism. They do not like a United States that is "the" Super Power and not just "a" Super Power. They do not like that we stand for freedom in all things, especially a freedom that runs counter to their own political movements. They do not like that President Bush is of political party X instead of political party Y. And for those reasons they oppose the United States, its policies at home and abroad, and work to defeat them even if it means the United States as a nation loses. Their thinking is that they will be around to "pick up the pieces" and rule in the aftermath.

It goes without saying that our internal enemies are as dangerous as our external ones. For the moment, at least, the external enemies are more violent, more willing to kill innocent people and the more immediate threat. However, we must remain vigilant against those who would work against us from the inside, for their goal is the same as our external enemies: the end of the United States as it currently exists and our way of life that has endured for over two centuries.

Like December 7th, 1941, the date of September 11th, 2001 will live in infamy. Not just because we were viciously attacked without warning by an enemy bent on our destruction, but because it marked an era where many people inside the United States were willing to side with such an enemy to bring about the destruction of the United States. Our fight is made all the more difficult by these people, and we must meet them with the same resolve we meet the terrorists and brutal tyrants of foreign lands.

We remember these dates not because the attacks are worthy of our thoughts, but because they become a symbol of our resolve to defeat our enemies—foreign and domestic!

The similarity between the place where the United States stood in 1941 and where we stand today do not end with a surprise attack on our nation.

...they do not like this country, what it stands for or the other people who live here.

...our internal enemies are as dangerous as our external ones.

...we must meet them with the same resolve we meet the terrorists and brutal tyrants of foreign lands.