Was 9/11 Really That Bad?

LA Times ^ | 1/28/07 | David A. Bell

[dforest]

I watched that day from here in Indiana. I was in terrible shock and cried for many days following. I mean NO ONE I saw that day was not horrified. And very frightened.

This man is a disgrace to all Americans and more so to those who died, lost family and are still dying as a result. This man should hide in shame.

[Old Professer]

Before one can set out to do what he knows to be wrong, he must first convince himself that is for the benefit of others and his sacrifice of principle on behalf of these soon-to-be-enlightened souls will be rewarded in the end; the 2008 race for the total takeover of D.C. by the new order will be fraught with campaigns for change all in the name of protecting the common good.

[kinghorse]

Heck no we didn't overreact. A sizeable portion of the world's population rejects the physical world and rational thought in 2007. These folks are still living pre-enlightenment, which is the PC equivalent of calling a used car pre-owned. Their understanding of the physical world doesn't extend beyond religious edict aka Dark Ages/Medieval in outlook.

You can't give an irrational unenlightened culture nuclear nohow. It's not rational. We are enlightened and rational and therefore can't let it happen. 9-11 was the lubricant to push the issue to the fore.

[Paradox]

Liberals are so predictable. Having been one myself, for them, the hight of intellectualism is to question things that are painfully obvious. The more against the grain they go, the bigger their achievement.

Thus, the militant Atheism (I mean, how much more against the grain can you go, than to go against God?), thus their support for the homosexual agenda, this their "American can do no good" outlook on foreign affairs..

Liberals, mistaking cynicism for skepticism, since 1960.

[Hegemony Cricket]

"David A. Bell" - What a dingaling! (Don't make me speculate what the "A." stands for...)

[reagan_fanatic]

Perhaps you would like to climb to the highest story of a nearby skyscraper and jump off, Mr. Bell. Maybe for the eight to ten seconds it takes for you to fall before your body hits the pavement, you can convince yourself that you're right.

[stm]

If ever there is a posterchild for forced sterilization to prevent pollution of the gene pool this guy is it.

[visualops]

The fact that this piece was even published says alot....and none of it good.

[Da Coyote]

So true. We reap the benefits of 30+ years of liberals running our schools, etc. Logic? Bah!

[tioga]

Our nation was attacked by those who hate us and our way of life.

[TomGuy]

The al-Qaeda intent was to take out many thousands more. Many thousands managed to get out before the buildings fell.

The al-Qaeda objective was 40-80,000 dead Americans.

Because the al-Qaeda failed in attaining that number does NOT lessen the intent they had.

[itsamelman]

DAVID A. BELL, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities who specializes in the history of France, has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He is a contributing editor of The New Republic and, in 2005, was a visiting professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Among his honors and awards is the Gershoy Prize of the American Historical Association, which was awarded in 2002 to his book The Cult of the Nation in France. Professor Bell has taught at Johns Hopkins since 1996.

[MEGoody]

Even if, 'historically speaking', 9/11 was not as bad as other mass murders, that certainly does not mean we should just shrug our shoulders and forget it. The murder of one person is enough reason to take action.

[Russ]

This idiot is a history professor? It's no wonder our country is becoming dumber by the day with geniuses like him teaching them.

[M203M4]

Funny, I don't remember anyone saying this sort of thing on 9/12. Last time I checked, pre-9/11 history didn't change between 9/11 and today.

He and others like him just think it is safe to "come out" now and tell us what they were really thinking 5+ years ago. They watched those people jump to their deaths:

and they watched the towers collapse:

Saw pictures of the Pentagon damaged:

Firefighters, police, medics, and regular citizens battling to save lives:

Heard about the events aboard flight 93:

and finally watched Osama bin Laden gloat over his group's achievement:

And, after all that, they said, "no big deal". Incredible. It makes my blood boil.

[wideawake]

An expert on France. How self-parodic.

[massgopguy]

Would David Bell's death really be that bad? Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain? But Monopoly is so much fun I'd hate to spoil the game. And it wouldn't really interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends.

[SaveTheChief]

So, this leftist wack job says that 3,000 deaths during 9/11 really were not a large amount if you look at history.

He's just trying to desensitize us so we don't "overreact" to the real terror that will happen here if he gets his wish.

[The KG9 Kid]

If you do, he'd better hope that I'm not one of the witnesses, because I didn't see a thing.