Friday, August 10, 2007

Do We Need Another 9/11???

Stu Bykofsky of the Philadelphia Daily News believes we need another 9/11 to heal the wounds of divisive politics. Another terrorist attack, in his opinion, would at least bring some unity to our country. He opens his article with this...

"ONE MONTH from The Anniversary, I'm thinking another 9/11 would help America.

What kind of a sick bastard would write such a thing?

A bastard so sick of how splintered we are politically - thanks mainly to our ineptitude in Iraq - that we have forgotten who the enemy is.

It is not Bush and it is not Hillary and it is not Daily Kos or Bill O'Reilly or Giuliani or Barack. It is global terrorists who use Islam to justify their hideous sins, including blowing up women and children."

However, Bykofsky's next statement says a lot about America...

"Iraq has fractured the U.S. into jigsaw pieces of competing interests that encourage our enemies. We are deeply divided and division is weakness.

Most Americans today believe Iraq was a mistake. Why?

Not because Americans are "anti-war."
Americans have turned their backs because the war has dragged on too long and we don't have the patience for a long slog. We've been in Iraq for four years, but to some it seems like a century. In contrast, Britain just pulled its soldiers out of Northern Ireland where they had been, often being shot at, almost 40 years.

That's not the American way.

In Iraq, we don't believe our military is being beaten on the battleground. It's more that there is no formal "battleground." There is the drip of daily casualties and victory is not around the corner. Americans are impatient. We like fast food and fast war.

Americans loved the 1991 Gulf War. It raged for just 100 hours when George H.W. Bush ended it with a declaration of victory. He sent a half-million troops into harm's way and we suffered fewer than 300 deaths.

America likes wars shorter than the World Series."

I will agree with this to the extent that our society is very oriented towards instant gratification. Of course, it wasn't long before we won the actual Iraq War. What we're dealing with now is a long, drawn out occupation.

Bykofsky makes another point about what's gone wrong since 9/11...

"Because we have mislaid 9/11, we have endless sideshow squabbles about whether the surge is working, if we are "safer" now, whether the FBI should listen in on foreign phone calls, whether cops should detain odd-acting "flying imams," whether those plotting alleged attacks on Fort Dix or Kennedy airport are serious threats or amateur bumblers. We bicker over the trees while the forest is ablaze. "

However, I do think that his final comments below, while true, are a bit reckless and almost seems to be asking for another 9/11...which, honestly, it would be the last thing anyone wants.

"America's fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.

What would sew us back together?

Another 9/11 attack.

The Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Rushmore. Chicago's Wrigley Field. The Philadelphia subway system. The U.S. is a target-rich environment for al Qaeda.

Is there any doubt they are planning to hit us again?

If it is to be, then let it be. It will take another attack on the homeland to quell the chattering of chipmunks and to restore America's righteous rage and singular purpose to prevail.

The unity brought by such an attack sadly won't last forever.

The first 9/11 proved that."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we should focus on the singular task of PREVENTING these types of attacks from happening, instead of waiting for another one attack (and who knows how many deaths) to create that focus?

I see his point, I really do...I just think that wanting another 9/11-type of attack to reunite the nation is not the line of thinking we need to have as a society. However, I do agree that our society is too geared towards instant gratification when it comes to these matters, and that we need to focus on the big picture and the important things first.

(h/t Michelle Malkin)

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