“This neighborhood should not be part of war zone. This neighborhood should not be a battle ground, so why is it?” asked Sen. Ben Sasse standing outside of the site where the San Bernardino terrorist attacks took place.
“Because we’re an open society. We’re a free society and our enemies hate freedom.” Sen. Sasse explained.
Sasse continued:
“We owe it to those who died this week to tell the truth about the nature of this conflict. We owe it to these fourteen, we owe it to their families, we owe it to the service men and women in uniform who are abroad right now fighting for our freedom, some of whom will come home in caskets. And frankly, we owe it to those who are still yet to die in the future. All adults know that the jihadi attacks we face on our homeland are not over. These will not be the last people to bleed and die because we are a free society, but we should tell the truth about the enemy we face. We should tell the truth about them, but we should also be honest about who we are. We should reaffirm our core values.We are not at war with terrorism — which is just a tactic. We are not at war with some empty sociological label called “extremism.” We are not even just at war with ISIS, though we’re obviously at war with ISIS. This is not about workplace violence. This is not about global warming or gun shows. This is not about income inequality. This is not about kids from broken homes, as tragic as that is. This is not about anything that we have done wrong. This is about who we are. This is about the nature of freedom. So who are we? We’re people who unite around the Constitution….We are most certainly though, at war with militant Islam. We are at war with violent Islam. We are at war with jihadi Islam. We are not at war with all Muslims. We are not at war with Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan who want the American dream for their kids. But we are at war with those who believe that they will kill in the name of religion. President Obama said tonight he’s worried about a backlash against American Muslims. I am too, and you know what the best way to combat that is? With the truth. By being clear about who we are and what we stand for and by being clear about those who would try to kill us because we believe in freedom.”
As they say, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
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