Ex-Bush defense official sees ‘40 or 50 years’ of war on terror

Gordon England describes the burning Pentagon, the smell of jet fuel, the commanding leadership of a president.

The former deputy secretary of defense always retells his 9-11 week story the same way. He’s been telling about the courage amid grief for 15 years.

The ending doesn’t change.

Because it may be years away.

The war on global terror will last generations, England told worshipers a week ago at a solemn 9-11 remembrance in Western Hills Baptist Church.

A few gasps went up when he said in mid-speech, “President Bush, I think now, was wrong.”

But England, 79, of Benbrook, went on to say Bush was wrong in predicting “this generation” would end the threat of fringe Islamist extremism.

“It’s already been a generation,” England said.

“[To] anyone who’s 25 or 30 years old, it’s almost like reading a history book. … You know, we stood up to communism for almost 50 years. … I think there’s going to be another 40 or 50 years.”

England, a former engineer and executive at General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, came to honor Benbrook firefighters and police officers.

On 9-11, he was in his fourth month as secretary of the Navy. He stayed in the Pentagon or the Department of Homeland Security more than seven years, serving as deputy secretary of defense under Donald Rumsfeld for a year and Robert Gates.

He often has retold how President George W. Bush met with defense leaders after 9-11 in the smouldering Pentagon.

“He said, ‘I will never, ever forget,’ and then he went around the room and said, ‘and none of you can ever forget, because we are responsible for the security of the country.’ ”

England avoided any direct reference to politics. (Former boss Gates calls Republican nominee Donald Trump “beyond repair” and “willfully ignorant” about the world.)

England did say sadly: “We have withdrawn from the world, and American leadership is hugely important. … We are literally the beacon of the world, and we have retreated.”

Pastor Chris Cobb asked whether the war is about “religion, culture or politics,” and what can end it.

England said the conflict is about religion — “these are extremists” — but also about “people who are threatened by the future. … So they revert more to the past.”

America must unify against extremist terror, he said: “If they knew how to kill 3 million Americans, they would do it.”

There may never be a clear winner, or loser — or end.

This story was originally published September 17, 2016 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Ex-Bush defense official sees ‘40 or 50 years’ of war on terror."