GROUND ZERO, New York City, Mar. 17--President Bush announced yesterday in the Azores that the "moment of truth" had arrived.   The world knows he was announcing a final stand taken by America and a small band of allies--Spain and Britain.  The only other nation to side with the U.S. is Bulgaria.
       What is, however, the "moment of truth?"

      For some opposed to American unilateralism in the Iraqi conflict, the "moment of truth" is nothing more than the U.S. lifting its leg and urinating on the diplomatic process to achieve disarmament with Iraq.   It is a bellicose act of imperialism, an example of America's "bully-ism."

       To others, the "moment of truth" is a debarkation point between Complacency and Action, that "Start & Finish Line" that signals the difference between a barking watchdog and its bite.   It is, in a nutshell, where the rubber hits the road, where the bully is faced with a bigger bully, and the bigger bully alleges to have "truth" on his side.
         America, it has been said, is putting its national character on the chopping block by defying world opinion about waging war on Saddam Hussein.   To invade Iraq without U.N. support means that America is a "stand-alone" nation, unwilling or inept to accept the decree of the world's body politic.   
         But truth is bigger than diplomacy.
         Truth exists in and of itself, without need for negotiation.

        In the case of Iraq, the truth is that all the nations who are waffling on the timing of an invasion and claim that Saddam Hussein will eventually buckle to international pressure, refuse to put any bite into their bark.   
         President Bush, whether the best or worst diplomat, has insisted that a deadline be established with a penalty clause for non-performance.   Any good business person knows that unless a contract carries with it an enforcement clause it really isn't a compact of value.  It truly has no truth to it.
         Even Jesus made it clear in his contract with people.  "Accept me or go to Hell."   The religious will argue that this blunt summary of "salvation" doesn't fit a "man of peace," but those who deny the obvious haven't been to many Christian churches where two gates are presented to the congregation--the gates of Heaven and Hell.   Bottom line, if the one seeking salvation doesn't buy into the rules and abide by them, then fire and brimstone awaits.
        Mollifications of this hard-line have been applied.   Some may end up in Purgatory, and others may have to wait in line, but the clear fact is that unless one complies with certain edicts, those gates don't open up when you step on St. Peter's doormat.
        So the United States has only asked for the "moment of truth."  It has asked and asked and asked the United Nations to create a valid contract against tyranny and oppression, and the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction by an errant national leader who has a history of invading other countries, killing his grandchildren's' fathers, gassing his own people, and refusing by default to comply with open weapons inspection and destruction of arms.
         At the Azores, America only demanded that teeth--sharp ones--be installed into the jaws of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441.   The U.S. is tired of the U.N. trying to gum Saddam Hussein into compliance.

            But the world of critics attacking the United States for being belligerent see truth in a far different light.   They see truth as time, endless drips of sand through an hour glass with no end.  When the hour glass nears empty, they tip it over and start again.           
          They have been doing this for a dozen years, and even when Saddam Hussein kicked out the U.N. weapons inspectors, they kept gumming him, chewing on the tips of his fingers. 
         In such a case, the power of truth lies with the enforcer of it.  
         Prior to the United States massing 200,000 American and 40,000 British troops around Iraq, there was no "moment of truth."   There was only fodder, empty air, white noise.
         Now, the dogs of war surround Baghdad.  They do not bark.  They issue a deep, guttural growl, the kind an attack dog emits prior to leaping upon its target.   America is sharpening the teeth of truth, putting into place the penalty clause the U.N. refuses to accept.
        President Bush gave the United Nations a day to come up with teeth.   France wants a month or more, but refuses to install canines into its demand.   It prefers an open-ended contract that Saddam can negotiate, if he wishes, as he has in the past.   Germany also rebukes the idea of teeth.

          President Bush, however, has opted for Gila Monster teeth, sharp, surgical hooked teeth that clamp down so hard that the victim cannot shake it loose.   Once it grips its victim, it gnaws deeper and deeper like a bulldog, and all the shaking and quaking cannot remove it.
         That is his moment of truth.
         So when the President issued his moment of truth, he was simply attacking Complacency.  
         Terrorism feeds on Complacency.
         Complacency is the absence of truth, for truth means that one is willing to die for one's belief, while Complacency means one is willing to shy from confrontation, to dance with the bear in hopes it won't crush you, and to feed the alligator in hopes it will eat you last.
         Truth denies Complacency as a tactic.

        It tells the world that one is Vigilant, for Vigilance is the art of turning Complacency into Action for the right reasons.
         Vigilance is about overcoming one's Fears with Courage, washing away one's Intimidations with Convictions, and erasing one's Complacency by Right Actions that benefit the Children's Children's Children.
          Yes, we are at the moment of truth.

                 When America crosses the borders into Iraq, it will be acting as the Parent of Vigilance.  It will be destroying the Fear, Intimidation and Complacency that has allowed the world to watch Saddam Hussein build a world of Terrorism for nearly a quarter of a century.
          When Saddam's world crumbles, it will be a victory for the truth, and a defeat for a Complacent United Nations who refused to turn its bark into a bite.