Al-Qaida declared war against America in 1998, and the terrorists are still at war against America.

Sadly, the Obama administration has directed the removal of any use of the term “war on terror.” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano avoids any mention of “terrorism” and “vulnerability.” A terrorist act will be called a “man-made disaster” and the “global war on terror” will be called an “overseas contingency operation” by the Obama administration.

We are dangerously returning to the same mentality and policy that allowed America to be attacked Sept. 11, 2001. President Obama’s policies have made America once again vulnerable to those who pursue a jihad against America.

For all who criticized President Bush, he kept America safe from a terrorist attack for 2,866 days after Sept. 11, 2001. During that time, terrorists made several attempts to attack America or American interests, and terrorists have made several attacks outside America.

Imagine what we don’t know and how many American lives have been saved. Terrorists only have to be successful once to achieve their goal.

Now, the Obama administration and the Democrats want to take us back to a pre-Sept. 11 mentality. One of Obama’s first official acts as president was to order the closure of Guantanamo Bay, a prison used to house 245 hardened terrorists.

He reduced our government’s methods of interrogating these terrorists, including waterboarding, which saved thousands of lives in the May 2005 plot to hijack airliners into buildings in Los Angeles. Obama granted terrorists further legal rights and even Constitutional rights, even though their vow is to destroy America. Other terrorists have been released to return to the battlefield to wage war on our military once again or plan their next attack.

Obama and the Democrats have made America less safe, as they have reduced our intelligence and interrogation ability to prevent a future terrorist attack. By weakening the Patriot Act and letting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expire, they have prevented our government from listening in on suspected terrorists.

While the Democrats have turned their heads away from the real enemy, they have no problem labeling conservatives who oppose abortion, favor strict immigration enforcement, support the Second Amendment, protest big government or represent veterans as potential “domestic terrorists” our government should watch.

If the Obama administration can’t recognize who the real terrorists are or that we are in a global war on terror, how can we expect it to protect America?

• Frank Aquila is a Manteca resident and president of the South San Joaquin Republicans. E-mail him at mantecarepublicans@yahoo.com.