Retired Army Colonel David Hunt says he can’t put a “happy face” on the war against terrorism. Read just a few pages of his recent book, On The Hunt: How to Wake Up Washington and Win the War On Terror (Crown Forum), and you’ll learn why.
Hunt spares few political or military leaders from criticism. He also calls on Americans to fight against apathy:
It takes strong, persuasive, brave, and consistent leadership to overcome apathy. After 9/11, when people stood in line for hours to give blood and sent so many things to the rescue workers in New York that they had to be asked to stop, our leaders had an opportunity to bring the American people together. They had an opportunity to tell us the truth and to ask us to make sacrifices. They should have said, “This is a damn war!” They should have told us that winning would take sacrifice and hard work on the part of everyone. They should have told us what to expect: this war was going to hurt, this war was going to take a long time, and that in order to win it we will need everyone to help and contribute. But instead we were told to “go about our lives,” that it should be business as usual. This was the wrong call because it fostered apathy.
You can hear Hunt’s prescription for winning the war when he visits Wrightsville Beach September 11 for a John Locke Foundation Headliner event.
