Remembering 911
This, via powerline, via NY Daily News, a snippet from a column by Debra Burlingame, who lost her husband, an American Airlines Pilot whose jet crashed into the Pentagon seven years ago today.
There is a disturbing phenomenon creeping into the public debate about all things 9/11. Increasingly, Sept. 11 is compared to hurricanes, bridge collapses and other mechanical disasters or criminal acts that result in loss of life, with "body count" being the primary factor that keeps it in the top spot of "worst in the nation's history."
Misremembering is as dangerous as forgetting. If we must know one thing, it is that the Sept. 11 attacks were neither a natural disaster, nor the unfortunate result of human error. 9/11 wasn't the catastrophic equivalent of a 3,000-car pileup.
The attacks were not a random act of violence or insanity. They were a deliberate and brutal act of war committed by religious fanatics engaged in Islamic jihad against the United States, all non-Muslim people and any Muslim who wishes to live in a secular society. Worse, the people who perpetrated the attacks have explicitly told us that they are not done.
Without a doubt the biggest non-stroy of the past seven years will be that while the entire world waited, assuming it inevitable, for the other shoe to drop, none ever did. With Democrats insisting that we are more vulnerable than ever I fear the misremembering is all but complete.
I remember that getting-kicked-in-the-gut feeling along with the hopelessness, anger, frustration, anger, yeah I said that twice, and most of all a mind bending bewilderment that people, or more accurately a subspecies resembling humans, could deliberately visit such monstrosity on innocent civilians.
I also recall that in my sense of helplessness all I could do was to try to put my emotions into words. 9/11 was the cataclysm that inspired my writing and eventually this blog. It all started with the essay below wherein I struggled to make sense of the events taking place in the aftermath of that awful day.
Much has happened in the interim but I think the sentiment still holds. Although someone accused me of being a warmonger and "chest-thumping adolescent Klingon" most readers, liberal and conservative alike, were supportive and complimentary.
Oh That it Could Be So Simple
Sept. 18, 2001
Recent poles show a groundswell of support for a military response to the recent atrocities in New York and Washington DC. Oh that it could be so simple. If only this could be handled like swatting an annoying bug. Unfortunately, this particular bug is viral and if there is a cure it will be eventual rather than swift. I am afraid my four-year old son will reach recruitment age before this is over.
In Madison and other liberal strongholds they're organizing peace rallies. We can’t blame the students. Society has traditionally afforded them this time for enlightenment and to ponder various ideologies to form their worldview. If the events of September 11 didn't’t do it, perhaps the body bags of their non-student contemporaries will help them see the difference between the world we have and the world we want. Rally to your bleeding hearts content but ignoring reality will not help. Our soft underbelly is those without the stomach to respond with force. If that mentality prevails we might as well replace Old Glory with a white flag.
They are in school to learn so let’s urge them to study the lessons of contemporary history. The original World Trade Center bombing was our wake up call and the attack on the USS Cole was a shot across the bow, though deliberately low. The tepid responses to those events brought us the events of September 11. The painfully clear lesson is that our unwillingness to render harsh consequences escalates terrorism. Given this lesson it is easy to see why this enemy considers us a paper tiger.
If, like many believe, this is an attack on our national psyche, it is not paranoid but practical to believe that this enemy is relying on the pacifist movement as an unwitting collaborator. It is also prudent to note that both targets may well have been chosen because they were icons of conservatism, capitalism and military might.
At the very least, a deepened political chasm works to their advantage because divisive rhetoric compromises our unity and diffuses our focus. Right wing nut Jerry Falwell’s claim that we deserved this because of God’s displeasure is no less damaging than left wing nut Michael Moore’s open question, “why bomb the blue states, they didn’t vote for Bush”? For the good of the country this brand of rhetorical rubbish should be shelved until we regain the luxury of debating relatively petty concerns like social security.
For the time being we have bigger fish to fry. Liberals should note that their fear of reckless retaliation decreases with each passing day and new coalition ally. Conservatives should not confuse patience with a lack of resolve.
We have no quarrel with the majority of Afghanistan, or Iraq for that matter, but at what point do we hold the citizenry of a country accountable for the actions of their government? Oh that it could be so simple to carpet bomb terrorism out of existence.
We need the maturity to accept that difficult problems do not have easy solutions and keep our obsession with instant gratification from justifying excessive force. It was the killing of innocent people that awakened this country from the dreamy slumber of complacency and to respond in kind would make matters worse. More of the same would help the recruitment of brainwashed zealots and alienate more countries.
Conversely, we cannot let the fear of a tarnished reputation compromise our resolve. Our response must be fierce but measured, lethal but precise. Anything less would be tantamount to surrender and an invitation for more. Terrorism unanswered makes it perpetual and allowing it to continue is equally immoral.
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