The speech he wishes Obama gave

By Dane Chapin 

SAN DIEGO — Following is a speech we wish President Obama had given on Nov. 14, the day after the Paris massacre:

Last night, 129 people were savagely and summarily executed on the streets of Paris.  Hundreds more were injured, many will be maimed for life.  Before I discuss how the United States of America will respond, and we will, without reservation or hesitation, on behalf of my nation, please allow me to send our deepest sympathies to our French brothers and sisters, to my French brothers and sisters.

When I came to office almost seven years ago, I pledged to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As promised, I brought the troops home. Unfortunately, yesterday was a painful reminder that the other side chose not to bring home theirs.

I am a reluctant warrior. My nature is to talk things through and find ways to bridge divides by means other than at the point of a spear.  But it takes two to talk and the enemy, and they are the enemy, spoke again, one too many times.  What I unequivocally heard, what the entire world heard, is that they are not interested in talking, only killing. While I regret to say it took additional bloodshed in Paris for me to finally understand what it is they are saying, I am listening and here is what I say as the president of the most powerful and exceptional country in the history of the world.

As my predecessor George Bush appropriately said, and I quote, “you are either with us or against us”.  This fight is black and white.  It is good versus evil and good will prevail no matter the hills we must climb, the valleys we must forge, the rivers we must cross or the blood we must shed.  And I pledge that those hills, valleys and rivers will not be those of our Homeland.  They will not again be the streets of Paris. They will be those of our enemy until every last Islamic Jihadist intent on killing innocent people is killed. For even just a single death at the hands of this evil is an affront to my being, to the very being of all the peace loving people of this world.

I make a pledge tonight to remind not just Americans, but all peace loving people of the world, that while I sit in the most powerful seat on the planet, I will use that position to lead the world in this just and regrettably necessary fight to rid the world of this reprehensible and despicable menace.

I’ve said in the past that I inherited the problems that I now deal with.  I was wrong. I chose to run for president.  You don’t inherit what you choose.  So I will now make the only responsible and reasonable choice I am given. Tonight, I’ve given orders to the Pentagon to put together a plan that will win this war once and for all.  No more half measures. No more leading from behind. No more diplomacy.

Over seventy years ago, the United States won two wars on opposite sides of the world. The moral clarity that gave us the will and strength to win those wars is no less clear to me today than it was to Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman back then.

There is only one choice in this war, in any war really, and that is to win it.  We will use whatever means necessary, military or otherwise, to insure victory.  We welcome any and all peace loving nations of the world to join in this fight. But either way, please mark my words, whether multi-laterally or unilaterally, we are embarking on this mission and there will be no looking back. There will be no second guessing. We will not yield or stop until we win. And trust me, we will know what this victory looks like when we have won. And so will our enemy.

In little less than a year, America will be choosing my successor.  I wish I could tell you that this war will be won by then.  It won’t.  There is no timetable when it comes to war.  The war will end when we have won it and I will support whatever candidate pledges, be it Republican or Democrat, to make fighting the war on terror their number one priority. For without victory in the war on terror, nothing else matters.

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Chapin, who describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur” has the “Spy on the Wall” channel on YouTube.  Any comments in the space below should include the writer’s full name and city and state of residence, or city and country for non-U.S. residents.