Freedom is no cheap luxury – war is necessary at times

Freedom comes with a price. The Oct. 17 letter to the editor by Nicholas Huber was one I found rather disturbing in the light of recent events.Mr. Huber stated that on Sept. 11, we, as Americans, took “massive collateral damage,” in the deaths of the people at the World Trade Center. He further stated that for us to attack bin Laden, his terrorist organization and the Taliban that support and defend him, is to kill innocent people.Mr. Huber says peace with bin Laden was possible, but we never explored it. He says, “We’re Americans. We are the land of the free. We need peace.”He says he is writing to pay the price for that freedom. His way of paying the price is for us to surrender to anyone who doesn’t like us or our ways. We didn’t suffer “massive collateral damage” on Sept. 11.

We suffered nearly 6,000 innocent people killed and a nation shaken to its roots by an unforgivable terrorist act. These same terrorists that Mr. Huber wants us to pursue peace with have vowed that many more innocent Americans will be killed unless we submit to their will.

Mr. Huber is right when he states that we do live in the land of the free. However, he forgets one important fact, which is that freedom was bought and paid for by the blood and lives of many thousands of brave Americans from the Revolutionary War through the events happening today.

Mr. Huber, we all desire peace, but these are, unfortunately, times in history when war is the only choice. We are a great nation of peace, but in order to preserve that peace and the security of our citizens, we must deal with a very serious threat in a very serious way.

I’m willing to do what it takes to pay the price for freedom. In fact, I am the recipient of two Purple Heart medals.

My question to you, Mr. Huber, and those who think like you, is, are you willing to really pay the price or do you just want to sit back and enjoy the peace others have bought for you? I don’t believe you are willing to pay the price.

• Gary Stanley is majoring in social science education and is a retired Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant.