I can’t believe a lot of what I hear and see around me these days.

Here we are, at war with murderous Islamists bent upon bringing the United States down to its knees, promising an American Hiroshima, still attacking U.S. facilities around the world — and our own citizens tell our own leaders not to use military weaponry on those gone-wrong, errant criminals.

Most such citizens are such die-hard peaceniks that they condemn any war that America gets into, even if it is to save our own skins. It is unbelievable to imagine any truth to their claim that quitting offensive action and coming home will stop those Islamists and terrorist outfits from continuing to target America. Most of us aren’t naīve and, fortunately, we live in the real world where we can understand what’s needed for survival.

Condemning war for its own sake is an unfair, unwarranted and unjust approach. It’s the simple reason why every country keeps an army or otherwise obtains assurances for its security. Would our citizens who oppose U.S. military action overseas accept Sharia law in the U.S. or agree to give away our freedoms to foreign aggressors?

It is time to come to terms about what the U.S. is faced with over the long term if we don’t protect ourselves.

I’ve heard and read so much against use of U.S. drones in Pakistan and Yemen, as if those drones were being used in the U.S. against our own people. Attacks on the U.S. have been plotted in Pakistan and Yemen, and we should not try to take out those people who do so? What would our citizens want if we don’t use drones? The trouble is that they would complain even if we sent in soldiers or used manned fighter airplanes or tasked the CIA for a covert war.

What I hear is opposition for the sake of opposition. Aren’t these opposi- tionists lucky to live in the U.S. and not in China, Pakistan or North Korea, where they could be jailed or made to disappear if they spoke against their government?

The drones serve a tactical and strategic purpose. They help to take out enemy facilities, fighters and resources where it would be dangerous to send in foot soldiers or CIA agents. They do it at low cost, in contrast to sending in a manned fighter plane. And, in contrast to having a fighter plane shot down, along with its pilot, no human lives are lost if drones fall.

Better, drones are less easy to target than fighter planes, fly fast, make less noise and are probably more precise in their kill ratios than fighter planes. Also, losing CIA agents to the enemy is no solution. Short of sending in foot soldiers or a full army, the drones are among the most optimal fighting machines in the U.S. arsenal, serving a specific purpose against terrorist outfits.

The drones have the Taliban in Pakistan and al-Qaida in Yemen on the run, unsteady, nervous and off balance. Why allow them the chance to regroup, plan and relaunch their bloody schemes against the U.S.?

And no, drones are not creating more fighters against the U.S. than otherwise. The U.S. would have to cease to exist as we know it for that to happen.

I urge anyone against drones to not think that love is the only reality. War is the other half on this planet. And, I don’t think we are going to see a reversal of the entire warring history of mankind any time soon.

Rather than being optimistic or pessimistic only, there is virtue in being a realist.