Was 9/11 really that bad? (I KNEW IT WOULD COME TO THIS)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 1/28/07 | David A. Bell

[paulat]

Was 9/11 really that bad?
The attacks were a horrible act of mass murder, but history says we're overreacting.
By David A. Bell
January 28, 2007

IMAGINE THAT on 9/11, six hours after the assault on the twin towers and the Pentagon, terrorists had carried out a second wave of attacks on the United States, taking an additional 3,000 lives. Imagine that six hours after that, there had been yet another wave. Now imagine that the attacks had continued, every six hours, for another four years, until nearly 20 million Americans were dead. This is roughly what the Soviet Union suffered during World War II, and contemplating these numbers may help put in perspective what the United States has so far experienced during the war against terrorism.

[snip]

Has the American reaction to the attacks in fact been a massive overreaction? Is the widespread belief that 9/11 plunged us into one of the deadliest struggles of our time simply wrong? If we did overreact, why did we do so? Does history provide any insight?

[snip]

The people who attacked us in 2001 are indeed hate-filled fanatics who would like nothing better than to destroy this country. But desire is not the same thing as capacity, and although Islamist extremists can certainly do huge amounts of harm around the world, it is quite different to suggest that they can threaten the existence of the United States.

[snip]

Even if one counts our dead in Iraq and Afghanistan as casualties of the war against terrorism, which brings us to about 6,500, we should remember that roughly the same number of Americans die every two months in automobile accidents.

[snip]

So why has there been such an overreaction?

[Eagles6]

Must be that french nuance that jon carey is so fond of. BTW, is that some sort of cheese?

[Retain Mike]

At one time we used to refer to the Federalist Papers, and not foreign law, to understand our Constitution. Using that archaic source one could look to number 23, which says the powers of our government for the common defense “ought to exist without limitation, because it is impossible to foresee or define the extent and variety of national exigencies, or the corresponding extent and variety of the means which may be necessary to satisfy them. The circumstances which endanger the safety of nations are infinite, and for this reason no constitutional shackles can wisely be imposed on the power to which the care of it is committed. This power ought to be co-extensive with all the possible combinations of such circumstances". Hamilton understood the powers for the common defense would be applied in relation to the danger to our safety and to an extent sufficient to overcome the danger. The powers were not to be applied subsequent to an evaluation of, and in proportion to, damage actually absorbed.

9/11 was a wake up call, because a realistic and vigorous evaluation of any threat to national security requires the analysis of both capabilities and intentions. The terrorists confront us with a technologically advanced Dark Age.

9/11 exhibited a quantum leap for innovative, creative killing. Terrorist converts easily accommodate academic excellence within cancerous philosophies appended to Muslim faith. Fifty-year-old technologies and stockpiles reside worldwide for weapons such as the Davy Crockett missile firing a 51-pound warhead yielding 0.02 kiloton and Astor nuclear torpedo carrying a Hiroshima size warhead. Chemical and biological agents emanate from dual-use facilities and cottage industries. The biological pathogens, which decimated Europe, still reside one step away in our food chain. Open societies provide excellent delivery means for chemical and biological agents where 2,000 to 20,000 people work and travel within closed HVAC systems. Human ingenuity, available resources, and receptive environments present terrorists opportunities as great as any threat our nation faced in WW II.

Regarding intentions, expatriate Muslim scholars relate we face terrorist threats independent of nationalist movements. The Wahhabi/ Salafi heresy rejects traditional Muslim allegiances to family, tribe and country, and embraces murder and desolation as both means and end. They believe Jews, Christians, other Muslims, and all other peoples are legitimate objects for slaughter. The Caliphate sought presupposes no particular human or physical remnant, leaving terrorists immune from diplomacy, containment or retaliation.

[Retain Mike]

Well said. Just had to keep a copy. Here is my reply to the L.A. Times, which is wat too long and way too un-affirming to the Professor to ever see the light of day.

At one time we used to refer to the Federalist Papers, and not foreign law, to understand our Constitution. Using that archaic source one could look to number 23, which says the powers of our government for the common defense “ought to exist without limitation, because it is impossible to foresee or define the extent and variety of national exigencies, or the corresponding extent and variety of the means which may be necessary to satisfy them. The circumstances which endanger the safety of nations are infinite, and for this reason no constitutional shackles can wisely be imposed on the power to which the care of it is committed. This power ought to be co-extensive with all the possible combinations of such circumstances". Hamilton understood the powers for the common defense would be applied in relation to the danger to our safety and to an extent sufficient to overcome the danger. The powers were not to be applied subsequent to an evaluation of, and in proportion to, damage actually absorbed.

9/11 was a wake up call, because a realistic and vigorous evaluation of any threat to national security requires the analysis of both capabilities and intentions. The terrorists confront us with a technologically advanced Dark Age.

9/11 exhibited a quantum leap for innovative, creative killing. Terrorist converts easily accommodate academic excellence within cancerous philosophies appended to Muslim faith. Fifty-year-old technologies and stockpiles reside worldwide for weapons such as the Davy Crockett missile firing a 51-pound warhead yielding 0.02 kiloton and Astor nuclear torpedo carrying a Hiroshima size warhead. Chemical and biological agents emanate from dual-use facilities and cottage industries. The biological pathogens, which decimated Europe, still reside one step away in our food chain. Open societies provide excellent delivery means for chemical and biological agents where 2,000 to 20,000 people work and travel within closed HVAC systems. Human ingenuity, available resources, and receptive environments present terrorists opportunities as great as any threat our nation faced in WW II.

Regarding intentions, expatriate Muslim scholars relate we face terrorist threats independent of nationalist movements. The Wahhabi/ Salafi heresy rejects traditional Muslim allegiances to family, tribe and country, and embraces murder and desolation as both means and end. They believe Jews, Christians, other Muslims, and all other peoples are legitimate objects for slaughter. The Caliphate sought presupposes no particular human or physical remnant, leaving terrorists immune from diplomacy, containment or retaliation.