The Task Ahead

If we stop banging our heads against the wall, the wall will win. It’s what the wall wants us to do. The wall will always be there. That is why we must always be ready to bang our heads against it. The question is, who is stronger? The wall or our heads? We will not back down. We must show the wall that we are firmly resolved to continue banging our heads. The question of how long to bang our heads is not nearly as important as our commitment to bang our heads against any wall that dares to stand against us. We will continue to bang our heads for exactly as long as it takes and not one bang more. You’re either with the wall or you’re with our heads. Young people get it. They realize that even when all seems lost, even when it seems you’re just banging your head against a wall, that we will never tire, we will never quit and, against all odds, we will never fail to bang our heads against a wall. I never said it was going to be easy. We could be banging our heads against a wall for a long time. It’s going to hurt. There are going to be some bumps and bruises along the way. But, make no mistake, we will win. This is a generational commitment. Many years from now, fathers will stop banging their heads and hand the task to their children, who will start banging their heads with twice the ferocity of the forebears. We will continue to bang our heads on that wall for as long as it takes. It is a wall. It will never quit. That is why we must never quit.

How will history view us? That is for the historians to decide. Really, I don’t care. We’ll all be dead. I’m firmly resolved that banging our heads is the right thing to do. To those who say, “stop, look around, we’re not paying attention to the war on terror,” I say that is exactly what the wall wants. Use your head, people. The wall hates us. It hates freedom. It wants to keep us from doing our duty. A wall doesn’t have think. It’s easy being a wall. What we’re doing, it’s hard. Some say the wall is getting harder, that it hurts more than ever to bang our heads against it. To me, that’s a sign of desperation. It’s afraid that we might never back down. We’re winning. It's going to take a strong body and a strong mind, but we’re up to the task. Some will say I’m bullheaded, but I don’t look at it that way. People might disagree with me, but I’m committed to freedom. There are some types out there who dismiss the challenge we face, and that’s fine, see that’s what’s so beautiful about America. We’re free. Free to dissent. That means people don’t agree. You try to talk to ‘em, but I gotta say it’s like talking to a wall sometimes. But I’ve never governed based on a focus group. I stick to my gut. And I lead with my head.


P.S. Friends, Americans, countrymen and women, lend me your ears!!! Disclaimer time! 1) To all you heroic soldiers currently engaged in head banging in Iraq, please know that what I think of the orders you’ve been given do nothing to diminish my gratitude for your willingness to bravely follow the commands of your officers and president. Like Viper said, “you do not make policy, you are the instruments of that policy.” In that regard, you are the finest instruments in the world. It is they who misuse such honor and devotion with impunity who deserve and receive the sum of my contempt. 2) This is not meant to diminish the importance of the War on Terror. It is meant to illustrate that combating an endless and soon to be “generational” insurgency in Iraq is as about far from advancing an anti-terror agenda as declaring war on tomato soup.