Posted on 09/11/2001 10:15:46 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
TownHall.com: Conservative Columnists: Steve Chapman
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Steve Chapman (back to story)
September 12, 2001
What we lost -- and what we will keep
The scenes of apocalypse that transfixed Americans Tuesday evoked feelings of panic, helplessness and acute vulnerability in a nation accustomed to tranquility. For an enemy to strike multiple targets on the U.S. mainland is an experience no living American can recall. Not since the Cuban missile crisis, when Americans confronted the possibility of being incinerated in a nuclear war, have we been reminded so forcefully that the bloodshed which afflicts so much of the world can migrate here as well.
There was an immediate sense that life in this isle of peace will never be the same again. "We are at war," said one expert after another. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) called the wave of terrorist attacks "the second Pearl Harbor." One Chicagoan on the street said to another, with grim irony, "Welcome to Jerusalem."
It may be hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the loss or the enormity of the crime. The scope of the carnage strained comprehension -- and the repercussions it will have in the days and years to come are almost without limit. Countless lives will be marred, deeply and indelibly, by what happened. For the American people as a whole, Sept. 11, 2001, is a date that will forever live in infamy.
It is easy, though, to overestimate the impact the attacks will have on our personal safety and our way of life. America is indeed at war, with someone. But this is not the Cold War, when thousands of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles were poised to annihilate hundreds of millions of people within the hour. This is not World War II, when we faced mighty nations with formidable, far-reaching military machines, implacably intent on forcing us to submit to their will.
The terrorist organization or government that struck these blows may be diabolical, ingenious, determined, and well-financed. Still, the chances are good that what it achieved Tuesday is not the beginning of the war, but the beginning of the war's end. Launching a series of strikes at American targets means leaving fingerprints behind.
The terrorists are in the position of an archer hunting a grizzly bear, who may enjoy the advantages of concealment as long as he holds his fire. Once he releases an arrow that fails to kill his quarry, he faces detection and terrible retribution.
Tracking the murderers to their lair may be challenging and time-consuming, but it can be done -- and it's reasonable to wager that, in time, it will be done. In the meantime, the enemy's main preoccupation is not to hit more U.S. targets but to avoid being hit. This triumph was far easier to pull off than it will be to replicate.
Whoever ends up being responsible for these appalling barbarities can't count on living long to savor the achievement. Any restraint that the U.S. government might have observed in locating its worst enemies and eliminating them will be gone. Sooner or later, the American military is bound to exact punishment on those responsible.
Retaliation, as the Israelis can attest, doesn't necessarily eliminate the threat, either immediately or eventually. Kill one militant leader, and new leaders and followers will sprout. Every "martyr" we create may spawn more fanatics eager to sacrifice themselves to their cause.
But the U.S., unlike most governments grappling with terrorists, has the protection of distance. We aren't trying to contain an enemy on our borders. We aren't trying to rule over an alien and hostile populace. We don't face the endless challenge of trying to cope with what amounts to an armed rebellion or a civil war within our borders.
We can take relatively modest steps to enhance our security. Tighter airport security, of the sort that Israelis take for granted, ought to be able to prevent airline hijackings, which turn out to pose a much broader peril than anyone imagined. We have allies all over the world whom we can call on for help in defusing the danger.
Our enemies are not so numerous or so powerful that they can force a bleak alteration of American life. A free and open society is inevitably more susceptible to unpredictable acts of violence than a tightly controlled one. All that means, though, is that trying to prevent any given terrorist incident is like trying to guard against being struck by lightning on a clear day. You can't do it, so you accept the small risk of dying and go on with your life.
What took place Tuesday was a horrendous catastrophe leaving wounds that may never fully heal. It demands greater vigilance than we've had to exercise before. But permanently robbing our daily lives of normality is more than even these terrorists can do.
©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
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