In placing the blame where it belongs, President Bush has effectively distinguished this evil strain of Jihadism from moderate adherents of Islam. He has rightly noted that these terrorists have twisted and distorted the religion. His harsh rhetoric has created an incentive for moderate Islamists to distinguish themselves from the extremist voices in Islam. By distinguishing the radical Jihadists from the more moderate tradition of Islam, the President has prevented a full scale culture war.

At the same time, he has aggressively used the military to fight the Jihadists and to cut off their support. Rather than lob a few missiles at abandoned Al Qaeda training facilities, he has confronted the threat head-on. His strong stance has forced other governments to do the same. Only recently have we learned that the United States has disrupted 10 Al Qaeda terrorism plots since September 11, 2001, including the attempted detonation of a “dirty bomb” inside the United States. Surely, many more successes go unpublicized because of their classified nature.

Yes, our President has rightly engendered criticism. Yes, he went about the war in Iraq in a flawed manner. And yes, his strong stances tend to make him a magnate for criticism. So much so, that when a damn in New Orleans breaks or a bomb explodes in Iraq, we look to blame our President. But we should never feel guilty for standing up for ourselves, or for rooting out groups of people who sit around and plot ways to murder as many Americans as possible. This is what our president will be remembered for. He has dedicated himself to making the world safer. The threat he has boldly confronted remains among us. This is not the time to stop paying attention.