I caught the last half of Air Force One today on television. I’m not typically an action/adventure movie type of girl, but the film captivated me and I simply couldn’t move as I rooted for the President and his Americans to prevail. I’ve seen it a couple of times before, and I know what happens, but I had to watch in earnest, hopeful anticipation.

Just like in many old cowboy movies and surrounding the premise of classic fairytales, this was elementary: a story of the good guys and the bad guys. Many familiar scenes mimicked real life and it came down to good versus evil, freedom versus terror. My heart warmed when Harrison Ford sees the American fighter planes coming to the rescue and says, “The good guys are here.” Pure evil resonated in the tongues, minds, and spirits of these terrorist hijackers controlling the plane. Unlike the instances of 9/11, these men weren’t in the mindset of martyrdom. But that makes reality all that more scary, in that just last week the Al-Qaeda leader second in command to Osama Bin Laden, released a statement encouraging members of this group to be martyrs for the cause and destroy.

Throughout the movie, those left at the White House must decide whether or not to negotiate with the terrorists, whether or not to trust the President, whether or not to trust their guts. Aboard the plane, the terrorist leader promises release when the President agrees to his demands. Once relinquished, he grins condescendingly and says, “Forgive me, I lied.” Remorseless and brimming with hatred, he has attained the goal of his fatal plight and cares nothing for the pitiful souls who dealt it him in trust he would deliver on his end of the bargain. But case in point: the bad guys really are bad and they can’t be delivered any consideration, respect or trust. They must be taught, fought, and overpowered and we have the obligatory duty to aggress per our abilities and innate, evil fighting moral senses. We are allies to the triumph of ultimate good.

This movie exemplifies, as world history also precedents, that negotiating with “the bad guys” simply doesn’t work. We, as bearers of honorable character, want to believe people stick to their word, but they are ruthless, de-sensitized killer who lie, deny and sacrifice their lives to promote their purpose. These people aren’t interested in peaceful regimes and harmonic world unity. That is irrational, unrealistic hope that anti-war protestors need to absorb fast. Many Americans and world citizens criticize our government, our national leaders, our soldiers even for the actions taken in Iraq and Afghanistan, for supporting Israel in their own battle against Hezbollah. Yet I know dozens who barely glance at the evening news, never pick up a newspaper and would have a hard time telling you which two countries are at the forefront of brutal war right now.

Just watch a clip of Al-Jazeera, read the press release statements from current Al-Qaeda leaders, listen to the violent protests in the Middle East. This is war. It requires brave men, people willing strength against the powers of physical and spiritual warfare. We have to ignore the opposition and complete the necessary tasks to prevent these superpower terrorists, confined with no absolution or in-party consequences, from taking over.

Lies and deception only surface on the part of the bad guys. America has made mistakes, not out of a sinister national heart, but in support of freedom, good intention, and the best of intelligence. We, a democracy, have to remember, whether or not you agree with America’s leaders, we’re on the same side! We are all against evil, that evil being Islamic terrorism, and you can’t fight this kind of evil with words. It isn’t that simple because it pervades the world, therefore we are forced to rise above it in the only way tangible, which is physically. Never having gone to Iraq? Pulling out soon? Not supporting Israel when they battle terrorists? God only knows where things might be had these crucial decisions not been made. You cannot hindsight what didn’t happen thanks to the actions we’ve taken thus far. It’s not pleasant or nice, it’s incredibly scary, inevitably sacrificial of innocents, and we wish it wasn’t here. But it is. It IS. We ARE. We MUST. It is our humanitarian responsibility because we CAN.

Everything in life can be equated this way. Like in Air Force One, it’s like the entire world is in a plane trying to be overtaken by the “bad guys”. Had Harrison Ford uncovered his identity at murder of one innocent, then the whole plane might have gone down. God forbid that person be your brother, your daughter, your friend, or your father. But it has to be someone’s somebody or we are doomed. It may not feel real, in the superficial, sheltered America so many people dwell in but, it sure is real across the ocean. On the front pages of the papers everyday, the numbers, and bombs, and passions raging, good and bad, on both ends. This isn’t ultra-conservatism in me, it is sense and wisdom birthed in my heart, literally imprinted on my soul, and I believe that innate sagacity lives somewhere in all lives which desire to overthrow evil.