Harris Sherline: Seven Years Later, a Perspective on 9/11
Has the meaning of the 2001 terrorist attacks faded into our memories? And why?
Contemplating the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States has generated a torrent of thoughts and reactions in my mind. And I can’t help wondering why our nation is so divided about the War on Terror.
I was in high school during World War II and I don’t remember any major disagreements between Americans about the war, whether we should be fighting it, whether we brought the Pearl Harbor attack on ourselves, or whether we should take the fight to the Japanese.
So, what’s different now, 60-plus years later?
» Our politics. We are clearly divided over whether the War on Terror is a real war or some sort of regional conflict. Or if, in fact, it’s a war at all, as opposed to criminal activity that more properly falls within the purview of the justice system.
» A clear understanding of who the enemy is. In past wars, everyone knew who the enemy was. That was still true during the Cold War with the Soviet Union and communism in general. But today, not everyone seems to fully appreciate or agree that we are fighting an enemy that transcends national boundaries, whose motivation is based on its religious beliefs.
» Letting the military run the war: During WWII, we let our military make the essential decisions about how the war should be fought. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was given a free hand to wage the fight in the Pacific. And, it was pretty much the same for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in Europe. We lost the Vietnam War because our political leaders interfered with the conduct of the war, with disastrous consequences.
» Acceptance of the nature of war: Recognizing that war is brutal, that no quarter is given and that it cannot be conducted in a politically correct way. During WWII, Americans did not question the necessity of fighting with no holds barred. The objective in past wars has always been to bring the enemy to its knees, striking against centers of production and destroying the ability to produce weapons. That invariably caused significant civilian casualties. As terrible as that may have been, it was generally accepted as necessary. London and many Russian cities were almost totally destroyed by the Germans, and many German cities were almost bombed out of existence by the Allies.
» Wars are messy: For all the strategic and tactical planning that goes on during wars, the fact is that both sides are constantly maneuvering to gain the advantage, and their moves are constantly changing. “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable,” Eisenhower said.
» Recognizing that wars often last for many years: Many Americans are already showing signs of fatigue in the process of what promises to be a fight that could last for a generation. We’ve been in Iraq for five years and some have grown weary of it. But, the British didn’t pull their troops out of Northern Ireland for almost 40 years of fighting with Irish terrorists. Many Americans appear to have the mistaken impression that wars are waged in the time span of a TV show or a movie, but the reality is that they may last for decades.
» America has not been placed on a “war-time” footing: In general, we don’t seem to be deprived of anything because we are at war. For many Americans, there has been little or no direct consequence affecting their personal lifestyles, careers, education or other aspect of their lives: no significant shortages, no rationing, no military draft. Indirectly, of course, everyone has been affected by massive government spending to finance the effort. And, although our individual freedoms have been curtailed somewhat by the Patriot Act, it doesn’t appear to be unreasonably limiting them. There are those, of course, such as the ACLU, who argue otherwise, but I don’t believe it’s possible for us to protect ourselves adequately without also limiting our rights to some degree. Unlimited freedoms are simply not possible in wartime.
As we approached 9/11’s sixth anniversary last year, columnist Cal Thomas wrote, “‘Why didn’t we see 9/11 coming’ was a question frequently asked in the aftermath of that terrorist attack. And the answer should be, because we forgot the attacks preceding that one, or brushed them off as inconsequential aberrations so we could get back to watching the stock market go up and obsess about Bill Clinton’s pants coming down. By not remembering those earlier attacks, the reasons behind them and the intentions of the terrorists and those who trained and incited them, we put ourselves in further jeopardy … Not to remember 9/11, is to forget what brought it about. That can lead to a lowering of our guard and a false sense of security …”
That’s what concerns me as I contemplate another anniversary of 9/11, that the attack has not become a battle cry, like “Remember Pearl Harbor,” exhorting Americans to never forget that we are at war, that we must not only remain vigilant but that we must respond directly to the threat of Islamofacists everywhere, at home and abroad, or we risk becoming just another footnote to history.
Harris R. Sherline is a retired CPA and former chairman and CEO of Santa Ynez Valley Hospital who has lived in Santa Barbara County for more than 30 years. He stays active writing opinion columns and his own blog, Opinionfest.com.
» wrote on 09/07/08 @ 08:22 AM
When we were attacked at Pearl Harbor and at 911 the nation came together. Our response to Pearl Harbor was to unite our country and attack Japan, the country actually responsible. Unfortunately, at 911 the Bush Administration wasted a golden opportunity and responsed by fabricating excuses and attacking Iraq. Since they had nothing to do with 911 our country and the world did not respond positively. Many years later we have spend hundreds of billions of dollars, killed thousands of Iraq citizens, created a huge refugee problem and most importantly lost thousands of American troops. Now we are in a OCCUPATION and not a WAR. The W administration continues to fool the public by saying we are at war with Iraq. We are not. We overthrew the government, the leader and held an election. The war is over but W wants to have authority under the war powers act so he can continue to grap executive power and rape our Constitution.
Of course, Cheney’s oil bodies have made out like a bandit as well as our Military Industrial Complex so I guess the whole thing is justified.
This article is just another in a series hatred and scare tactics design to make Americans think that the world is out to get us.
» wrote on 09/07/08 @ 12:13 PM
It’s easy for us to sit back, go on with our American way of life and point fingers at each other for what we did or didn’t do regarding the attack of America on September 11. As Harris noted, there were many attacks before (and after) 9/11 in our country and abroad - no one was/is safe.
American has become the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” society, and the American media no longer informs us of all sides in the Middle East. We are feed what they want us to believe. But, those directly attached to people “over there” know the reality and are silenced by the media unless it plays into their politics as usual. Take time to read the political blogs, they are filled with hatred and distain on all sides. If the goal of the 9/11 attacks were to divide America, it appears they have succeeded.
It’s not “too bad”, but unfortunate.
» wrote on 09/07/08 @ 04:31 PM
It is always quite clear that Harris neither lives in nor sees the same world as the rest of us. First of all, he directly connects the war in Iraq with the “war” on terror. I will grant you that he does superficially ask whether the war on terror is actually a war at all, but then much like the Bush Administration, he makes no differentiation between that “war” and the Iraq War which has never had anything to do with terror except create more terrorists and makes us more susceptible to terrorism. Next he adds fuel to the Bush fear tactics of making us “fear” everyone since we cannot readily discern who are real “enemy” might be by calling “them” Islamofascists like that great patriot Rush Limbaugh. He then equates the Chicago 7 with treason during the Viet Nam War which is a stretch I cannot fully comprehend, but he really goes bonkers when he states that we “lost” the Viet Nam War when our political leaders “went astray” As one who did indeed serve in the military during the Viet Nam War (and while I do not know, I am betting because of his age Harris did not ever serve in the military) our political leaders screwed up that “war” by “creating” it unnecessarily and by keeping us in it long after it was quite clear we should never have been there in the first place. If it were not for the political pressure many fine US Patriots like John Kerry finally put on our government to get us out of Viet Nam, we might still be fighting to keep Viet Nam “free” from the Viet Namese. How soon myopic people like Harris forget things like that. As far as the length of the Iraq War, it is already longer than WW II. We cannot deny that it is a folly forced upon us by Bush Cheney and their ilk, and we have been engaged far too long already and we cannot get out soon enough. The best part of Harris’ silly article is when he blames Bill Clinton for 9/11 by inferring that it was his ‘escapades” that caused us overlook past terrorist incidents. Bush created a war to justify changes in our society that most of us patriots feel are oppressive and unnecessary infringements upon our civil liberties. Never forget Ben Franklin’s prescient comments “Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” Think about that next time you must take off your shoes and throw away a perfectly good bottle of water so the public can “perceive” more safety in when flying when you know full well that does nothing to make us safer on that airplane. Unfortunately complete safety is not possible in a free society since freedoms always come at some price. If Harris wants absolute freedom from terrorism, I suggest he might try North Korean or China where few freedoms exist but there may be more safety from terrorism.