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I have to apologize in advance<\/strong> for what I\u2019m going to write on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n But (obviously, I think), that\u2019s not exactly what happened.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking about the War on Terror. I\u2019m 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\u2019s just because I haven\u2019t read enough books on the subject from different angles.<\/p>\n It\u2019s good that we punished the perpetrators. It\u2019s good that Osama bin Ladin was killed. I\u2019ve never nitpicked the president over that action, and I don\u2019t plan to start now.<\/p>\n But all my life I\u2019ve evaluated things through the lens of bullying and abuse. Many people think the United States must be the world\u2019s bully, because we\u2019re so rich and powerful.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not how bullying works. I\u2019ve seen it myself, and I\u2019ll bet you have too. Dominance is not (or not wholly) a matter of size or strength. It\u2019s 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\u2019s more ruthless and selfish. <\/p>\n Have those who attacked us in 2001 learned a lesson? Have they retired with bloody noses, less likely to do it again? All in all, I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n Remember, the heart of their terrorism is a willingness to die as a martyr. Killing them isn\u2019t necessarily the deterrent we think it is.<\/p>\n It seems to me they might take a lot of satisfaction in what they\u2019ve achieved. Our freedoms in our own country have been reduced. Our presence in the Middle East is diminishing, leaving the chamber swept and garnished for Islamists to move in (as has already happened in several states after the \u201cGreen Revolutions\u201d). We have become more, not less, dependent on Mideast oil. Our support of Israel has never been softer. Doors are opening to Islam everywhere in America, while Christian practice is being increasingly restricted. Our school children are taught to admire the Islamic world, and to despise their own cultural tradition.<\/p>\n 9\/11 seemed like a moment of clarity at the time.<\/p>\n I\u2019m no longer sure America is capable of clarity.<\/p>\n May the memory of the honored dead bring us back to our senses. I have to apologize in advance for what I\u2019m going to write on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. I\u2019d 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 … Continue reading In solemn remembrance<\/span>
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