Adult Book Review: The Fight of Our Lives by William J. Bennett & Seth Leibsohn

THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, & Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam
by William J. Bennett & Seth Leibsohn
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2011
ISBN: 9781595550293
Reviewed from copy provided by BookSneeze.

As Bennett and Leibsohn show, America is on the verge of declaring preemptive cultural surrender in the war on terror. "The Fight of Our Lives" will reinvigorate the discussion, reframe the debate, challenge the quitters, and embolden those who wish to win the war on terror.

The authors begin with the terror attacks committed by Dr. Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009.  Using this event and the actions of President's Bush and Obama as background, Bennett & Leibsohn set out to prove that we, as Americans, have lost the will to fight terrorism. They state:

"If September 11 were not a strong enough wake-up call to the terrorist threat against us, if all the other attacks and attempted attacks failed to rouse us, then surely this attack should have jarred us to attention once and for all: there is no such thing as a safe place from Islamic terror, not abroad, and not anywhere in America."

 Political correctness seems to have won the day when terrorists are no longer called terrorists and the President of the United States takes the blame for an attack on her citizens instead of blaming the individual(s) responsible. Instead of continuing the fight against terrorism, America has slipped into placating her enemies rather than taking a strong stand against the evils that terrorism presents.


I found the author's arguments compelling.  There is truth in what they say.  Political correctness seems to be more important than national security. At the same time, there is no such thing as perfect security, here or anywhere else. Unfortunately, war is such an ugly, ugly thing that it is not surprising that the resolve that drove us after September 11 has faded and a desire to compromise just to stop the fighting and bring our troops home.  Under certain circumstances I have no problem with compromise, but it is important to remember, as Bennet and Leibsohn point out, that terrorists won't compromise.  They will take what we offer and give us nothing in return.  Only by taking a consistently strong stand and calling terrorism what it is whether perpetrated by one or an organization can we ever hope to prevail in this war.


While I don't agree with everything that the authors say, I do see a strong element of truth in what they say. The book provides a thought-provoking look at the political changes that have occurred since September 11th.