Whatcha gonna do when the well runs dry?

	Reports continue that the US is holding combatants, enemy fighters captured on battlefields while attempting to kill US and allied soldiers and supposed civilian terrorist suspects captured before committing the acts they were known to be planning.
These often unsubstantiated allegations ignite, subside, and then are followed by new or reignited reports regarding the same criminal suspects.
Recent reports suggest that the US operates secret prisons in Poland and Romania. These prisons are purported to be part of the US war on terrorism. These reports provoke controversy within the US, among its allies, and add fuel to our enemies sitting in caves watching Al-Jazeera, BBC and CNN TV.
European nations, including France and Germany require constant reassurance that the US acts lawfully in the war against terrorism.

All the while the US continues to fight the global war against terrorism in the name of civilization. Foiled plots are rarely made public because that would identify US methods, tools, and operatives. Terrorist strikes that have been diminished in intensity and pre-emptive terrorist captures are rarely credited to US operatives. These operatives are in constant danger, risk their lives daily, and are the only force protecting old Europe and other civilized nations from fanatical attacks on their own soil.

Important issues that needed coverage during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent Middle East and European trips have been overshadowed by her need to respond to allegations of unfair US brutality upon terrorist prisoners. Rice has repeatedly identified the obvious facts that have guided US policy for over 200 years. Her assertions include the statement that the US does not recommend, support, use, or condone the use of torture and other widely accepted inhumane methods often used by other nations to extract information from prisoners and detainees.

Most educated people know of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 civilians, the 30-plus years of airliner and ship hijackings where innocent civilians have been brutalized, the ongoing suicide bombings across the world at embassies, resorts, and office buildings, the vicious 1972 Munich Olympics' terrorist murders, and the daily insurgent attacks in Iraq, now the focal front in the global war against terrorism. Despite the high levels of brutality and vicious killings used by terrorists in these and hundreds of other situations, there are those who choose to attack the United States for its methods. They accuse the US of using methods resembling those used by its enemies. Critics disregard the fact that the US is waging a defensive war against terrorists who use brutality publicly and exploit CNN and Al-Jazeera global news outlets to terrify masses of civilized people into submission.

The United States has been the defender of human rights and has come to the rescue of nations since its founding. What nation rescued Europe from Germany in WWI? What nation rescued Europe from the Nazis in WWII? What nation rescued China, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines from the brutal Japanese fascist-inspired bloodbaths of WWII? What nation staved off the attack of North Koreans supported by Chinese Communists to salvage and provide for the freedoms and economic development of today's South Korea? What nation attempted to stave off the communist takeover of South Vietnam? What nation deposed the contemporary murdering dictator, Saddam Hussein? What nation is working to bring freedom to 26 million Iraqis who have only known murder, intimidation, torture, and brutality?

What nation is leading civilization in its fight against fanaticism and global terrorism? What nation is spending billions of dollars to protect and keep civilization safe?

What motivates some people to misunderstand history and misconstrue realities in today's struggle against terrorism? It is certainly conceivable that a small number of situations arise which require the US to resort to tactics used daily by its enemy in order to protect innocent civilians and its fighting forces. Critics of the US who, usually without proof, point to such isolated incidents fail to realize that they are able to do so safely with no recriminations only because of the United States' policy of not violating human and civil rights.

Those who do not like these historical facts and have no perspective should get together with their compatriots, build a nation as great as the United States, and then tackle the human rights, liberty-promoting, freedom-ensuring, capitalistic projects they believe they know how to handle better. Until then they should wisely hope that the United States continues to keep them safe, drive the global economy, and provide new technologies for them to enjoy at low cost.