CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, December 1, 2003

Under Attack: By the Cult of Envy and Hatred

Clearly, the first war of the 21st Century is unlike any previous war we have faced. It is a war of survival between Western Civilization and a Cult of Envy and Hatred.

In our Revolutionary War, we fought to secure the rights and protections enjoyed by our English cousins. Reluctantly, we declared our independence from Great Britain and then fought to win it.

In the War of 1812, our fledgling nation beat back a British attempt to undo what we had already won.

Our Civil War was, in part, to abolish slavery; however, its larger context was to create a unified industrial, agricultural and maritime nation. With the Civil War’s social objectives written into the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, we decided our Manifest Destiny was to unite what became the lower 48 States into a transoceanic, maritime nation -- protected by offshore possessions.

The Spanish-American War left us in charge of the Western Hemisphere and extended our reach, more by accident than design, to the Philippines.

During World War I, the Old World was destroying a generation of its best and brightest. Great Britain and France called on the New World to come rescue the Old World from itself, and we did. A fact quickly forgotten by the feckless French, but not by our English cousins. Unfortunately, World War I ended in a poorly crafted negotiated settlement instead of the all-out victory that is always the necessary precursor to long periods of peace.

Resultantly, World War II was a continuation of the Old World’s failure to police itself -- exacerbated by Hitler’s hatred of the Jews and by Japan’s desire to impose its racial-economic hegemony on the whole of Asia and the western Pacific.

The Cold War was a confrontation between two vastly different economic systems. One free, one totalitarian. But, after 73 years of determined resistance by the West, the inherent flaws of communism collapsed the Soviet Evil Empire.

At which point, we thought we were home free of security concerns. In fact, America relaxed to the point the election of a president with no military or foreign policy credentials became possible. While he preoccupied himself with chasing young interns, we came under repeated attacks. His lack of effective response only served to embolden the Cult of Envy and Hatred.

We reaped the harvest of eight years of inattention to national security on September 11, 2001. And, we’ve been paying a steep price in blood and treasure ever since.

What makes this war between Western Judeo-Christian Civilization and the Cult of Envy and Hatred so different than other conflicts? Our previous conflicts have pitted us against forms of government repugnant to our Declaration of Independence. Or, we have fought to secure our mainland by acquiring out-lying possessions. Or, we have had to intervene to prevent the enslavement of other democratic societies. Or, we have had to resist a competing economic system.

Never before have we had to face a foe whose primary motivation is envy of what America has achieved and never before have we had to face a foe who, instead of seeking the traditional spoils of war, seeks to express its seething envy and hatred of Western Judeo-Christian Civilization by spilling our blood.

Fortunately, we have the leadership and the resources to hold the Cult of Envy and Hatred at bay until, hopefully, its adherents realize they are the authors of their own failed socio-economic system. The fixes suggested by military scholar, Colonel Ralph Peters, cannot be overstated: Permit freedom of information. Stop the subjugation of women. Accept responsibility for individual and collective failure. Place value on honest work. Place value on universal education. Adopt ethical business practices with all, not just blood relatives. Cast off dictatorship by Islamic radicals.

Western democracy works. Muslim dictatorship does not. The choice is theirs to make: Either leave us alone or our military-industrial power will grind them into the sands of time.

William Hamilton, a nationally syndicated columnist and featured commentator for USA Today, is the co-author of The Grand Conspiracy and The Panama Conspiracy – novels about terrorist attacks on Colorado’s water supply and on the Panama Canal, respectively.

©2003. William Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com