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MCT COLUMBUS, Ohio: Thankful we are that we have not seen a repetition of Sept. 11, 2001. The events of that fateful morning left an indelible impression on our psyche. Fear of similar attacks has been at the center of national consciousness and of national policy ever since. Thankful we are not, however, for what has been done in the name of preventing another 9/11: First, the invasion of Iraq, which the Bush administration tried to justify, among other dubious reasons, on supposed ties between the 9/11 hijackers and Iraq. One hijacker had been to Baghdad for medical treatment, and this was supposed to show that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. The invasion has cost more American lives than were taken on 9/11, not to speak of the several hundred thousand Iraqi lives. The administration has drained the federal treasury in a war from which there seems to be no exit. Second the invasion of Afghanistan, which the administration rationalized as a way of depriving the terrorists of a base area. That aim was achieved, at least for a time. But we are bogged down in Afghanistan as badly as in Iraq. Our soldiers are still dying there, six years on, with no end in sight. The Taliban, which we overthrew, is making a comeback. Opium production, which had been tiny under the Taliban, has become Afghanistan's major industry. Afghanistan is the main opium supplier to the U.S. market. We don't often recall that in the run-up to the invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban was quite willing to negotiate about turning over Osama bin Laden for trial. We might have been able to get bin Laden without firing a shot. Thankful we are not for the excesses in the security measures the Bush administration instituted to prevent another attack: Some may have done some good, but we did not need a new super-agency, the Department of Homeland Security, which only confused lines of responsibility. The administration spied without warrants, intercepting communications as never before in our history. It concealed what it was doing from the public and from Congress. The administration tortured suspects, leading to exposes that have shown us in the worst possible light around the world. We have set up secret and not-so-secret detention facilities to keep people we had no right to keep. We are getting a new attorney general to replace the one who promoted torture. But the new one doesn't know torture when he sees it, so we may be in for more of the same. We promote democracy in the Middle East as an antidote to terrorism, unless, of course the wrong side happens to win an election, like Hamas. Or unless a leader who declares martial law and jails the judges is our ally, like Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. In the name of fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon last year, the administration stood by and cheered as Israel laid waste to Lebanon. The upshot of much of the Bush administration's response to 9/11 is that a world that initially was sympathetic to America for the terrible tragedy that 9/11 surely now sees us as a bully throwing our weight around. These days the administration is in the advanced stages of preparing to invade yet another country in the Middle East. But there is little indication that the administration is planning for how to extricate itself from Iran, any more than it did for Iraq or Afghanistan. We have lost the moral high ground. We have fewer friends who will stand up for us, or who will stop those seeking to harm us. We have made ourselves more vulnerable to terrorism, not less. Thankful we are that we have not had another 9/11, because we seem to be doing whatever we can to bring on another attack. ___________ ŠThe Voice 2007 Revised 01/13/2008 03:11:05 PM — http://www.uamont.edu/Organizations/TheVoice/5_12/aftermath.htm |
