"We know we must win the war on terror to protect innocent people and the freedoms that define our way of life"
About this Quote
The statement compresses the early 2000s consensus of post-9/11 America into a few declarative strokes. The phrase "we know" asserts certainty and shared conviction, inviting listeners to see resistance as naivete or disloyalty. "Must" elevates policy to moral imperative. Calling it a "war on terror" shifts the frame from criminal justice to a military paradigm, with all the permissions and exceptions that follow: preemptive force, indefinite detention, covert operations, and expansive surveillance.
Doc Hastings, a Republican congressman from Washington who served from 1995 to 2015, voiced the dominant rhetoric of the George W. Bush era. Many lawmakers endorsed the Authorization for Use of Military Force and subsequent security measures on the grounds that freedom at home required force abroad. The reference to "innocent people" casts the conflict in stark moral terms and sidelines complexities like civilian casualties, blowback, and the varied causes of radicalization. "The freedoms that define our way of life" invokes civil liberties and democratic norms, yet the period saw intense debates about how much of those freedoms could be curtailed for safety. The statement contains that enduring paradox: to save liberty, we may need to limit it.
There is also a strategic ambiguity. Terror is a tactic, not a state or army, so victory lacks a clear endpoint. By defining the struggle as existential and indefinite, leaders created political space for long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for intelligence programs that outlasted their initial justifications, and for a domestic security apparatus woven into daily life. The rhetoric fused national identity with policy choice, making dissent harder by equating criticism with risk to the innocent.
At the same time, the appeal speaks to a genuine fear and responsibility felt by officials after mass casualty attacks. It captures the pressure to reconcile safety with liberty, and the enduring challenge of defending open societies without closing them.
Doc Hastings, a Republican congressman from Washington who served from 1995 to 2015, voiced the dominant rhetoric of the George W. Bush era. Many lawmakers endorsed the Authorization for Use of Military Force and subsequent security measures on the grounds that freedom at home required force abroad. The reference to "innocent people" casts the conflict in stark moral terms and sidelines complexities like civilian casualties, blowback, and the varied causes of radicalization. "The freedoms that define our way of life" invokes civil liberties and democratic norms, yet the period saw intense debates about how much of those freedoms could be curtailed for safety. The statement contains that enduring paradox: to save liberty, we may need to limit it.
There is also a strategic ambiguity. Terror is a tactic, not a state or army, so victory lacks a clear endpoint. By defining the struggle as existential and indefinite, leaders created political space for long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for intelligence programs that outlasted their initial justifications, and for a domestic security apparatus woven into daily life. The rhetoric fused national identity with policy choice, making dissent harder by equating criticism with risk to the innocent.
At the same time, the appeal speaks to a genuine fear and responsibility felt by officials after mass casualty attacks. It captures the pressure to reconcile safety with liberty, and the enduring challenge of defending open societies without closing them.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
|---|
More Quotes by Doc
Add to List
