Did you feel it? Did you wake up, turn on the news, and get punched in the stomach today?
Yes, the plot to blow up several US bound planes was disrupted. No doubt this should be viewed on an intellectual level as a victory for intelligence services and law enforcement, but still there’s that feeling. We knew on some hypothetical, back-of-the-mind, when-not-if level that terrorists did not just disappear from the international scene after 9/11. But just like people living near a fault line or at the foot of a volcano, we continued to carry on with our lives secure in the belief that today would not be the day.
Well, today was a stark reminder that any day can be that day.
So, do we have the stomach for this fight?
Are we the same nation we were in 1941? Or are we simply an empire in decline; too comfortable with our luxuries to sacrifice even a little bit to help the war effort. Can you imagine the uproar (and the shrill screams from the left) if we were forced to ration and conserve resources in support of this war as our parents and grand parents did during WWII?
Are we ready to understand that the enemy we are fighting doesn’t give a damn about fair fights or protecting innocent civilians? While they parade faux victims in front of ever present and eager media cameras to foment opposition to this war around the world, do you think they shed a tear when blowing up children in playgrounds or mourners at funerals?
San Francisco Chronicle
Two unidentified men hid the explosives among other bags near a bench packed with children watching a match between neighborhood teams, said the lead investigator in the case, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss it. At halftime, around 8 p.m., when the players sat down to rest, the bombs exploded simultaneously.
I’m not even remotely suggesting we should start blowing up children, but perhaps we could show just a little bit less compassion for terrorists and their “rights”.
Perhaps we can stop talking about measured and equitable responses to terrorist attacks (such as the launching of rockets into civilian neighborhoods).
Perhaps we can stop whining about the government monitoring phone calls from known terrorist states.
Perhaps we can stop making false comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam to score politcal points.
Perhaps we will finally remember that this country is at war, and while the battle is being fought on other shores, it will not take much for it to be brought home to us again.
These fascists aren’t fighting for land or money; they really hate us and want us dead. Cease fires and UN resolutions are merely tactical retreats in their minds, meant to provide an opportunity to gain advantage and continue the fight another day.
Are we so desparate for peace, so enamored of our cushy lives, that we are willing to grasp at frayed ropes offered by those who would dance in the streets if that rope should break?
Time to wake up America; we talk about mortgaging our children’s future with Social Security and “tax breaks for the rich” when the real threat is our own selfish denial of reality so that we can continue leading comfortable lives while our future is threatened like never before.
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