Terry Everett, June 19, 2006

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 861 declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror. Some in Washington and around the nation have cast doubts about whether the United States should remain committed to waging this critical battle, especially in Iraq. They have lost sight over the complexity and the widespread nature of our enemy - the terrorists. As a nation, the U.S. cannot afford to retreat.

Many Americans feel as though the war on terror we are fighting began on September 11th, 2001. However, 9/11 was the deadliest attack in a war that has been going on for over 25 years. In November 1979, Ayatollah Khomeni, the former radical Islamic leader, seized power in Iran, riding the slogan, "Death to America." Just four months after his rise to power, it became evident that agents of radical Islam would stop at nothing to kill Americans. This doctrine of hatred resulted in terrorists killing over 600 people prior to 9/11.

In April 1983, 63 people died at the hands of terrorists at the U.S. embassy in Beirut. In October 1983, 241 Marines died during the bombing of their barracks in Beirut. In February 1993, six people were killed in the World Trade Center bombing. In June 1996, 19 American service members died after a truck bombing at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. In August 1998, 224 died at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And, in October 2000, 17 sailors died when the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen.

For the first 20 years, we allowed the terrorists to fight this war on their terms. 9/11 served as a wake-up call for us in the sense that we could no longer afford to sit on our hands and let the terrorists continue to kill innocent Americans. Under the leadership of the Bush Administration, and with the support of this Republican-led Congress, we took the fight to the terrorists, wherever they may be.

Right now their choice is Iraq. It is the central front in the war on terror. In fact, Osama bin Laden has said he believes the war going on in Iraq is nothing short of the Third World War. The importance of Iraq in achieving Al Qaeda's objectives of killing Americans is clearly spelled out in a 2005 letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's closest advisor, to Musab al Zarqawi, the man tapped by bin Laden to head Al Qaeda operations in Iraq. He said that getting the U.S. out of Iraq is critical if they are to turn Iraq into a permanent base of recruitment, training and operations just like the one they had in Afghanistan.

This is why it is crucial that we stay the course and ensure that the democratically elected Iraqi government can take hold. A democratic Iraq will be the death of Al Qaeda, and those aren't my words, they are the words of Zarqawi.

We have accomplished so much in the global war on terror, highlighted by the recent death of Zarqawi. We have significantly degraded the Al Qaeda network by denying them a safe haven in Afghanistan and capturing or killing many of their leaders and associates. We have also built an unprecedented international coalition to combat and prevent terrorist financing and dismantle terrorist support networks.

America is safer, but we are not yet secure. The enemy we are fighting is determined and serious about its desire to kill Americans. We cannot allow Iraq to become a breeding ground for terrorist activity. A free and democratic Iraq is absolutely essential to fighting the terrorist threat and building long-term peace and stability in the region. This global war on terror must be fought. We can do it in the streets of our hometowns or we can take the fight to the terrorists. Either way, it has to be done. I prefer that we take the fight to the terrorists.

Congressman Terry Everett, a Republican, represents Alabama's Second Congressional District, which includes the state capitol, Montgomery.