Very Dangerous Situation

[tim_h]

I was in Midtown during the strike. It's a peculiar feeling when you see the familiar world come crushing down around you. I can still hardly believe it happened. Those were two enormous buildings, which took years to build. It took a few minutes to destroy them and kill thousands of people.

Here's what I think. America has been at war with many countries, e.g. Iraq, the Palestinians, the former Yugoslavia, and so on. For example, Israel and the Arabs don't like each other. In fact, they are at war. Since we support Israel, the Arabs figure they are at war with us, too.

Now, the war has so far been going on their territory. But it was inevitable that it would come here eventually. Today it did. Bush will retaliate, but antagonisms will only escalate. There will be more and severe attacks, possibly by small nuclear bombs that the enemies will smuggle in. Not tomorrow, certainly, but after things return to normal. If they blow up one or two major cities, America will pretty much come to a standstill, since people will flee from every city.

This must be avoided at all costs, especially since I live in Manhattan. I don't want to be blown up. I can't stress this enough. The goal is not to win, not to crush whoever doesn't like Americans, but to prevent conflict. America cannot fight a war on its own territory. The costs will be much greater than anything we'll inflict on the enemy. In the long term only a change in our foreign policy towards non-interventionism will prevent a war. In the short term... well, I don't know what to tell you. Bush should kick some ass, but not too much; and he should keep in mind how dangerous the situation is (and in retrospect has always been) for us. We have everything to lose; they are beyond caring.

[First_Salute]

Bump.