Jeff Fortenberry: “on June 6 we commemorated D Day, the day that American military forces stormed the coast of France 62 years ago to turn…”

“on June 6 we commemorated D Day, the day that American military forces stormed the coast of France 62 years ago to turn the tide in one of the most brutal conflicts the world has ever known. The United States sustained 6,603 casualties that day, yet the final victory over the forces of fascism remained nearly a year away. Rows of silent graves at the American Military Cemetery in Normandy bear witness to the high price of freedom. They solemnly remind us that there is no substitute for perseverance and sacrifice if we are to prevail over the threats which challenge this Nation and the world today. The global war on terror is a different war from the wars of the past. This is not a war of uniformed armies on clearly defined battlefields. It is a war that invades tranquil space and time without warning, carried out by those who hide among and behind civilian populations, seeking to exploit the vulnerable for ruthless purposes. While we have endured the sacrifice of global wars during the past, we have never waged a war in an age of globalization, in an age when technology eviscerates the concept of distance, magnifies our losses, trivializes our accomplishments, and places our adversaries in a far better position to leverage the freedoms of our society against us. In seeking to prevent another 9/11, the President and the United States Congress would have been utterly irresponsible to ignore the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in Iraq.…”