From the Publisher

incoln once declared, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Of course, Lincoln was talking about the division between the North and the South, an internal debate without an external enemy. Today, America is once again divided. This time, however, it is not a civil war, although it is a war fought with very little civility. And today, there is another element present—an external enemy that seeks our destruction.

Existentially, we are not vulnerable. America is still the greatest power on earth. Some may think that this is a bad thing, but it is not. Power only becomes bad when it is used as an instrument of evil, to harm others. And the United States is a righteous power if there ever has been one. Yet there are those who would have us believe otherwise, and that is the enemy’s greatest weapon.

Our enemy has only one hope, and that is to turn Americans against each other. Unfortunately, there are many in this country that would gladly cooperate. I’m willing to wager that if you took all the ink used to vilify our President and weighed it against the amount used to vilify Osama bin Laden, the scale would overwhelmingly tip toward the former.

There is something very wrong with that picture. It is time to devote more ink, more time and more footage to defining the purpose of the war—and less time to self-flagellation.

This issue focuses on Africa, another area of crisis. But then, where in the world is there not a crisis today? It is a continent that faces starvation, terrorism, genocide, disease and massive poverty, and is the recipient of American largesse. To be sure, not enough largesse, but what other country is doling out anything significant and so selflessly in Africa? It’s not the Russians. It’s not the Chinese. And it is certainly not the wealthy Arab states.

Power can be used for good if it is in the right hands. And currently, it is. Let’s use some ink to remind us of that. And let’s use some ink to remind us that American power deserves to be protected from the evil that seeks to replace it.