Millennials and the war of our time

What do millennials care about?  What do they want?  What role will they play in history of the country?  These questions are becoming increasingly relevant to companies, politicians, and the media as America’s most dynamic and diverse generation begins taking the reins.  For full disclosure, I am part of this group of Americans and am no closer to answering these questions than any of the pundits or talking heads on television.  While it may be difficult to find a singular ideology or mantra that defines us as a group, one thing has become increasingly clear: The War on Terror has become ours to fight.

Assuming an age of 22 years old, much of the graduating classes of 2015 and 2016 will have been in second or third grade on September 11, 2001.  What is now burned into our national memory as one of the darkest days in American history has become a defining moment in the childhoods of millions of Americans.  14 years after that fateful day and 4 years after the death of Osama Bin Laden, it would be hard to argue that the world is any safer of a place.  The Global War on Terror now stretches into the majority of the lifespans of anyone under 30 years old without a foreseeable end in sight.  Hypothetically, a child born after 9/11 will be eligible to be sent to Afghanistan in just 4 years.  Make no mistake about it; the struggle against radical Islamic extremism is the war of our time.

{mosads}Assigning blame to the rise of the Islamic State and the complete dissolution of security in the Middle East is almost irrelevant at this point.  ISIS is here to stay until they are destroyed, and as the most influential voter demographic in the country, millennials need to wake up to this fact.  We need a President and a Congress that recognizes that they are in command of an America at war.  We need leaders who will be honest with this fact and not shy away from measures to defend the homeland and protect American values.  This means renewing the outdated AUMF, dramatically increasing the rate of strikes on ISIS targets, and working in coalition with our European and Arab allies to actively deny our enemy the land and space to operate and plan attacks.  And yes, this also means working with the over 99 percent of Muslims throughout the world who want to see an end to ISIS just as much as we do.

For much of our lives, millennials have been able to cast aside responsibility for the wars onto the older generation that was in power.  This can go on no longer.  We as a generation must wake up to the fact that we are at war and business cannot go on as usual.  There is no doubt in my mind that ISIS will be defeated.  They do not have the financial or industrial infrastructure to outlast Western military might.  The only question, however, is when.  And how many more direct attacks or home-grown terror they can inspire before that happens.

We need to elect leaders that are awake to this urgency and who have the strength and judgment to command our forces to a swift and decisive victory.  Millennials may have inherited the War on Terror, but it is now our moral responsibility to ensure that we do not pass it on to the next generation.

Jusuf is a is a recent graduate from Hamilton College majoring in Public Policy and Communications, now working in Washington, DC.