As our GIs fight Islamo-fascists abroad, let’s do our part against the fifth column in America. The media’s unwillingness to address this is not surprising, yet our own enemies have baldly stated that eroding America’s will and resolve is key to our defeat.

They know they have much help, as we’re flooded daily with propaganda against the war effort. Osama bin Laden couldn’t buy better propaganda, and doesn’t need to, because Old Media leftists are dead set on destroying our resolve by sending anti-war messages for defeatist purposes, messages such as: “We can’t possibly win; why try?” or, the classic, “Nobody even knows what ‘winning’ means!” Old Media propagandists recently even suggested that prosecuting and executing Saddam meant nothing. Or wait, maybe it did – but it was all bad!

These loaded words, images, stories and headlines are pretense because they can’t come right out and say what they really want: That is, for us to lose the war. Instead, they use a few heavy-handed, slanted stories to make their point. It’s propaganda 101: Can’t use a sledgehammer? Keep pounding away with small hammers – it does the trick eventually! Thus, we are delivered defeatist negativity, ad nauseam.

The enemy’s enemy is a friend, and since a Republican administration leads this war, Old Media and leftists have aligned themselves with terrorists and tyrants. They shockingly calculate that if Islamo-fascists win, we benefit. I dislike Bush, but would never side with our enemy, as they have. Then again, the leftists are too self-possessed to just dislike Bush, rather they proudly sport a savage antipathy for him.

Can we name those organizations who would sucker punch America? NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, PBS, The Washington Post, the L.A. Times, USA Today, the Boston Globe, Reuters and McClatchy are relentless enemies of America’s war effort. But the worst offenders are The Associated Press (even cursory research highlights how far al-AP’s despicable collaboration has metastasized), and The New York Times – now al-Qaida’s foreign intelligence branch.

And local media who serve as conduits for Old Media’s propaganda? Claims of innocence – we didn’t originally say or write it – ring false. Sure, they’re only foot soldiers, but foot soldiers win wars.

Leftists repeat mindless mantras at the first sign that the fifth column might be held accountable: If America sacrifices any freedom of speech or press, they argue, America is even worse than the enemy! But mantras are yet another sneaky weapon to keep us from fighting back.

Even the slightest scrutiny exposes the thinking of the leftist crowd: No nation has ever allowed an internal enemy to operate during wartime. Even good Democrats like Wilson and FDR are among the leaders who didn’t think much of allowing the fifth column to run amok during wartime. Why start now? We must stop propagandistic attempts to bring about our defeat, and not be cowed by Old Media’s thinly veiled, ulterior motives. Their actions must be exposed for what they are.

Granting protected status to scheming saboteurs of our war effort isn’t healthy for our democracy. In fact, it defies history. Nothing in our Constitution or tradition holds sacrosanct the wartime behavior of collaborators. Must this even be said?

Ah, but there’s the rub: To win, the propagandists don’t have to make sense. They just have to obfuscate and confuse the issues. If enough people become frustrated enough with this war, we’ll throw in the towel. Sowing confusion and agitation is exactly the point of Old Media’s campaign.

Strong words. But necessary. When heroes sacrifice all for victory, sneaky, partisan collaborators must be exposed. Enough of giving collaborators free passes without ever calling a spade a spade. Fact: No Vichy-French, Nazi collaborator ever admitted to being one when asked … and yet they were. Their denial was meaningless.

Nothing’s changed. When challenged, today’s collaborators also issue stony-faced denials of hidden, agendas. But the fifth column is dangerously present in this war, too, folks. And unless they’re stopped, we’re toast.

Jim Cyr is a licensed master social worker who lives in Caribou.