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What We Got Right in the War on Terror
By Abe Greenwald
| A taste, about the response to the killing of Osama bin Laden: |
It is telling that much of the discussion concerned the nation's feelings. To be sure, the emotional response to 9/11 has helped define the past decade--thousands dead who were loved by tens or hundreds of thousands in turn, a sense of national vulnerability to foreign attack entirely new for Americans to grapple with, and the immortal bravery of the passengers and crew of United flight 93. Perhaps we could have done without the psychobabble, but the fact that we discussed the killing of Bin Laden as a means of providing a national catharsis is evidence of a notable American achievement. We could afford to concentrate on the state of our psyches--rather than the fear of instant reprisal--because American policies and actions had kept the homeland safe from attack for a decade.
Over the course of the 10 years, American authorities foiled more than two dozen al-Qaeda plots.
| That we know about, anyway... |
Those averted tragedies were not foremost on the minds of revelers who gathered to celebrate Bin Laden's demise on May 1 at Ground Zero, Times Square, and in front of the White House. But if a mere few of the plots had materialized, those spaces might not even have been open to public assembly.
| Thank you to all those who worked quietly to ensure we reached this stage: the end, perhaps, of the beginning. Those who know more say there is no guarantee how it will end, but I have faith in them, and in us, that we will reach the tipping point, and it will tip in the right direction. |
Posted by: 2011-08-12 |
