I have to apologize in advance for what I’m going to write on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
I’d like to say that the losses are terrible, but they were not in vain, because America found courage in the time of trial to come back and rid the world of a great evil.
But (obviously, I think), that’s not exactly what happened.
There’s been a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking about the War on Terror. I’m now inclined to the view that Afghanistan should have been a short, sharp punitive mission, and then out again. Iraq was the strategically useful war. But maybe that’s just because I haven’t read enough books on the subject from different angles.
It’s good that we punished the perpetrators. It’s good that Osama bin Ladin was killed. I’ve never nitpicked the president over that action, and I don’t plan to start now.
But all my life I’ve evaluated things through the lens of bullying and abuse. Many people think the United States must be the world’s bully, because we’re so rich and powerful.
But that’s not how bullying works. I’ve seen it myself, and I’ll bet you have too. Dominance is not (or not wholly) a matter of size or strength. It’s a matter of how far the various parties are willing to go to get their way. Often a smaller, weaker person can bully a larger, stronger one, because he’s more ruthless and selfish. Continue reading In solemn remembrance