News surfaced today in several sources that Iran is becoming more belligerent toward the west, and especially toward the United States.  With the Al Qaeda network being hampered by US military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Iran seems to believe that the only way it can regain its place as the country that will stand up and keep the US at bay is to take the fight to our soil and inflict terror right here between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  (Here is an article in The Washington Post that details this story.)

I’ve got three words for Iran: bring it on.

Of course, that all depends on what our government is going to do about the threat, too.  If we, as a nation, are going to cower down and run like scared children over the threat of terrorism, then my three words really won’t make any sense.  It would be very easy for our government to take these threats and do things like spend more money on the TSA and DHS, expanding their programs beyond those that are already sucking funds out of the US Treasury and robbing citizens of their freedoms, and doing nothing for our overall safety.  On the other hand, if as a nation we are going to stand tall and tell a bunch of third world petty thugs that we are not going to run for cover just because they say they are going to come over here and inflict pain, then “bring it on” is exactly the right thing to say.

This country was built on liberty and freedom.  It was also built on courage.  We did not expand beyond the 13 original colonies because we were afraid of what was on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains.  We expanded because we were not afraid of what was out there, and we were not afraid to take the risk to find out.  We have explored the depths of the oceans, the hearts of volcanoes, and the very outer reaches of space because of courage and a resolution to take the risks associated with those activities.

It is now time to do the same thing.  We must not allow ourselves to be bullied into changing how we do business simply because a country on the other side of the world says they are going to kill people on our own soil.  They may yet do that.  There could even be another attack on the same magnitude as 9/11.  But the fear of that happening cannot change how we live our lives on a daily basis.  Most importantly, we cannot allow the threat of that to further bankrupt our country by spending money on homeland defense programs that we cannot afford.

The best homeland defense is one that employs citizens to be vigilant for things that are out of place, and allowing those same citizens to arm themselves for self-defense.  How come terrorists chose airliners for their attacks on 9/11?  Of course they were able to deliver a great deal of damage, but they were also safe havens.  The terrorists knew that there was absolutely no way that anyone on board those planes could thwart their plans, since there were no weapons on board.  Flight 93 never made it to its destination, but it still ended in tragedy for all on board.

It didn’t have to happen that way, and if we allow ourselves to live as our founding fathers intended, it will not happen that way again.  Systematically removing our liberties in exchange for “safety” in the end grants us neither.  History has shown this in the past time and time again, and no amount of wishful thinking by our government will change that.

“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

How many crimes take place at gun shops?  Shooting ranges?  Karate studios?  Any place where people have the means and the will to defend themselves?  Do you think that terrorists are any less intelligent than our common criminals?  They will always look for soft targets.  Our goal as a society is to not give them one.  Not because we allow TSA, DHS, FBI, NSA, CIA, or any other three letter agency to provide for our safety, but because we will ourselves to be strong, be vigilant, and be responsible for our self-defense.

What should we do about Iran?  Dr. Jack Wheeler of To The Point News had something to say about it back in October of 2011:

This week we learned that Iran’s government planned an act  of war against us in our own capital.  It is hard to overestimate the  number of problems in the world that would be solved with this government  gone.  And that’s the solution:  regime change.  Apply  a straightforward Reagan Doctrine strategy to overthrow Iran’s mullah regime by sponsoring – with money and weapons – insurrections throughout the  country.

Of Iran’s 78 million, over 20 million are ethnic Azeri – almost three times  the number of Azeris in Azerbaijan next door, whom they would love to join in  a Greater Azerbaijan.  There are at least eight million Kurds, who would  fight tooth and nail against their Tehran oppressors if we gave them  support.  There are three million Ahwazi Arabs who populate Iran’s oil  patch, Kuhzestan, across the border from southern Iraq.

And of course there are the Persians themselves, some 33 million, whose mass  street protests have been so brutally suppressed (and which the current  president did not lift a finger or say a word to support).

A president determined to effect regime change in Iran would succeed  quickly.  The world’s main state sponsor of Islamic terrorism would be no more.  Iraq would be free to flourish, Syria would be quickly  liberated, the threat to the Saudi and Gulf oil fields would be removed, and  of course, Iran’s nuclear program would be destroyed in the process (Israeli  spec-ops would see to that).

It’s a long list of positives and few if any negatives.  All it needs is  a president with the courage of Ronald Reagan.

We do not need to take on Iran in a direct confrontation.  We do not need to go over there, guns blazing, and inflict ourselves on a foreign country like we did with Iraq and Afghanistan.  With the right “encouragement” the work can be done for us by those who are already over there.  But that line of rational thinking probably escapes our current regime, who would be very happy to continue tearing up the Constitution and trampling on our freedoms all in the name of “safety first.”

Bring it on.  I would rather live in a country where I am still able to live freely without government interference in my life, knowing that I could be injured or killed by a terrorist than to live in a country that is run by a tyrannic regime that is only concerned about protecting me.

We are at a crossroads in our country’s history.  How our government responds will determine the value of our freedom and liberty.

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