Freedom is not Free

"Freedom is not Free" is a very popular phrase that a lot of us grasp on to. I know for a fact that I do. Freedom is indeed not free. Freedom comes at a great cost. We would not experience the freedoms that we have today if it were not for the men and women that are in our military. The men and women in our military are putting their lives on the line everyday, especially those in Iraq or any other nation of the world. When they take that oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith, and allegiance to the same, and that I will obey the orders, of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice so help me God" they are saying that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for you and me to protect those precious freedoms that we hold so dear and have worked so hard to gain. People all around the world do not experience the privileges that we do in the United States. In fact, some people despise us because of the freedom that we experience. That is why we are fighting this War on Terror right now. We are fighting this War on Terror, not War in Iraq, to protect our freedoms and our citizens. Taking of innocent lives is indeed an outward act of cowardice as President Bush said just moments after the attacks. I am so thankful for the President we have and the truth he stands for. I am thankful that he stands up for us everyday in this world. I am thankful for the courage he showed in defending this nation when it was so brutally attacked. I do not agree with the people who call this war "War in Iraq". This is not the "War in Iraq" this is the War on Terror. This is a global war. It is being fought on many battlefields all across the world, not just Iraq. Now, granted a majority of the fighting is taking place there, but it is not just going on there.

I vividly remember September 11 when our nation was attacked by terrorists. At that very moment I was sitting at my table in my living room doing some homework. The television was on, which was unusual because I never watch television that early in the day. I just remember the news reporter saying something like "our nation has been attacked". My father was outside talking to a guy that had come to give us an estimate on residing our house. I ran outside and told him what I had heard. My father came inside with me and I do not believe that we turned the television off at all that day. I was sitting there watching the first tower on fire and all of a sudden I saw a second plane come from nowhere and hit the second tower. I saw it live. I was not there, but I did see it live as it happened on television. I was shocked. What was happening? Why was this happening? Other question of this sort swarmed my mind as I sat in front of the television watching the towers fall, the people weeping, and firefighters along with policemen struggling to save those whom they could. Many honorable men and women died that day. It was something that I will remember for the rest of my life. Something that will go down in history, and something that I hope will never ever happen again. Hours after the attacks President Bush appeared on television and made a statement to the public. He promised that justice would be done. What a man! To have the courage to say to the entire world that we will not stand for such an act of cowardice, and that whomever did this will be punished takes a lot of courage. It is not an easy task to say something like that to the ENTIRE world. Immediately our military was put on alert, and ready to go where ever necessary to defend our nation. Men and women were ready to sacrifice their lives to protect the freedoms we have and enjoy everyday.

I cannot believe that people will sit back and say that President Bush is horrible and he lead us down the wrong path. First I believe that God has a purpose in everything. Second Sadaam Hussein was a man that has always been anti-American. He has never liked the United States. He has been a threat for years. The Persian Gulf War we had to go over there and tell him to stop what he was doing. Yes he abided by our rules for a while, but he then started to do his own thing again. Sadaam Hussein was a major threat to the American people. Would you rather have had President Bush not do anything, and then when Sadaam did fire a missile at us then go and attack, after we have already been hit and innocent lives have been lost!? That would be pure stupidity! There would be no sense in that. President Bush did the right thing, and because he did the right thing we are still experiencing those freedoms today that we did before the attacks of September 11.

The fight is not over though. Sadaam was not the only person with a passionate hatred for the United States. What about the other nations that are preparing nuclear weapons? Do you think that maybe they have a desire to attack the US? I do, with all my heart. Many of these nations are testing these weapons. North Korea, for instance, has tested them. They have actually sent them towards the United States, but failed to reach us or detinated them before they reached us. We still have a war on our hands and it is the War on Terror, not War in Iraq.

"Freedom is not Free" is a true statement. Freedom comes with a cost. If you want to be able to have a country that has the freedoms that we now experience then we must go on fighting this War on Terror. We must fight to protect FREEDOM!