This article about Winston Churchill in the March 2005 issue of Smithsonian contains a poignant ending that may be relevant as we contemplate the decision that Bush made to declare war on terrorism after 9/11:
The author is quoting from and then commenting on Churchill's famous 1946 "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri.
"It is necessary," he argued, "that constancy of mind, persistency of purpose and the grand simplicity of decision shall rule and guide the conduct of the English-speaking peoples in peace as they did in war." Constancy of mind and persistency of purpose - those are familiar Churchillian virtues: they led him out of the wilderness and England out of darkness.
But "the grand simplicity of decision" is something else. It is a recognition that in the midst of a complex world, any act or decision will have a "grand simplicity" about it. Decision necessarily omits, rejects, determines. It could be grand, perhaps magnificent, and possibly necessary. But it may also seem too simple, imperfect and flawed, narrow and restrictive. And it will have consequences that cannot be foreseen. It will be, that is, human. Acting forthrightly with that kind of understanding in the face of Britain's greatest danger-that may be Churchill's greatest claim to heroism."
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