The Greatest Weapon in the American Military Arsenal

When our Founding Fathers revolted from an oppressive monarchy, it was not our rifles, our strength, or our knowledge of the terrain that propelled us to victory. When the Northern Union armies finally stood victorious on Palmito Ranch, it was not because we had more powerful cannons, faster horses or stronger soldiers. When our greatest generation rushed the beaches of Normandy and eventually liberated and marched through the streets of Paris it was not because we had better tanks, bigger bombs or faster airplanes. What makes American great is not our massive economy, or our amazingly dominate military.

There are certain values that make you feel good about being American. There are satisfactions you get out of being American. Being American is synonymous with being right. There is a great satisfaction you get out of being right. The greatest difference between America and every other country is that we Americans are not unified by a race or nationality, but we are unified by a set of beliefs, that we hold to be self evident, that we are all created equal. The greatest weapon in the American military arsenal is not our nuclear bomb, but our moral superiority and without it, we have lost everything this country was built upon. During the revolutionary war, General George Washington and the Continental congress made it a principal belief to treat all enemy combatants decently and humanly. Even during the darkest hours, on the eve of destruction, at the near collapse of the revolution, our founding fathers still did not stray from their beliefs. They knew that it was not just about winning the war. It was about winning the war on their terms, on their ideals, on the ideals that were pronounced in the Declaration Of Independence and these ideals were never to be strayed from. For if we were to stray from these principals and win, than everything we were fighting for would be a fallacy. By holding to their ideals, our founding fathers not only defeated a far superior military force, but created a set of values and beliefs that became the basis of which to judge right and wrong and proved that moral superiority is by far the greatest weapon any military can have.

Now ask yourself, is torture right? Is torture moral? Is torture American? Al Gore wrote in his book The Assault On Reason, “It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they did. In spite of all the dangers they confronted, they faithfully protected our freedoms. It is up to us to do the same”. John Adams wrote in 1777, "I know of no policy, God is my witness, but this — Piety, Humanity and Honesty are the best Policy. Blasphemy, Cruelty and Villainy have prevailed and may again. But they won't prevail against America, in this Contest, because I find the more of them are employed, the less they succeed." As an American I feel very insecure when I am not standing on the moral high ground and right now I'm feeling pretty insecure.