Why Paul Krugman is genius...
"Let’s not forget that the perpetrators of 9/11 are still at large, five years later, and that they have re-established a large safe haven."
Those were the words from Paul Krugman's op-ed piece in today's New York Times; September 11, 2006, the 5 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While we should remember the loss, pain, bewilderment, and myriad other feelings that flooded us that day, as Americans we also need not forget to be proactive.
History can teach us many things. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. But those who merely remember are also condemned to a life of historical repetition. Has the United States learned from this terrible disaster? In some ways many Americans have, but many Americans have not. Merely wearing FDNY hats and NYPD tshirts will not bring people back, and while it may numb the pain it does not solve the major problems that 9/11 exposed. Are our ports any more secure than they were in 2001? Not really. Are planes much safer? Not really. In taking preventitive measures the United States has merely attacked "rogue states" with loose affiliations to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks. These measures have proven both unpopular and unsuccessful.
Instead, Middle America has taken to institutionalizing fear and prejudice against all ethnic Arabs, and espeically Muslims. Now we have debates over whether our fellow Americans are patriotic; depending on whether they support the war or not. These are not fruitful debates; it is time to move past them. The real debate needs to be about how best to secure ourselves from future attack. The Patriot Act, war in Iraq, among other botched plans, has not created stability. Further instability in the world exists - just look to Iran, Hezbollah, and as Krugman rightly suggests, the continued presence and resurgence of Al-Qaeda.
Terror alerts constantly moving along the bottom of our television screens on all the major news networks only reinforces fear within American society. Let us not forget, but let us also remember this: terrorism does not work as an offense when those being terrorized do not live in fear. To this day, Americans still live in fear and not until we change that mentality can we start on the path to properly memorializing and moving past 9/11.
Those were the words from Paul Krugman's op-ed piece in today's New York Times; September 11, 2006, the 5 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While we should remember the loss, pain, bewilderment, and myriad other feelings that flooded us that day, as Americans we also need not forget to be proactive.
History can teach us many things. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. But those who merely remember are also condemned to a life of historical repetition. Has the United States learned from this terrible disaster? In some ways many Americans have, but many Americans have not. Merely wearing FDNY hats and NYPD tshirts will not bring people back, and while it may numb the pain it does not solve the major problems that 9/11 exposed. Are our ports any more secure than they were in 2001? Not really. Are planes much safer? Not really. In taking preventitive measures the United States has merely attacked "rogue states" with loose affiliations to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks. These measures have proven both unpopular and unsuccessful.
Instead, Middle America has taken to institutionalizing fear and prejudice against all ethnic Arabs, and espeically Muslims. Now we have debates over whether our fellow Americans are patriotic; depending on whether they support the war or not. These are not fruitful debates; it is time to move past them. The real debate needs to be about how best to secure ourselves from future attack. The Patriot Act, war in Iraq, among other botched plans, has not created stability. Further instability in the world exists - just look to Iran, Hezbollah, and as Krugman rightly suggests, the continued presence and resurgence of Al-Qaeda.
Terror alerts constantly moving along the bottom of our television screens on all the major news networks only reinforces fear within American society. Let us not forget, but let us also remember this: terrorism does not work as an offense when those being terrorized do not live in fear. To this day, Americans still live in fear and not until we change that mentality can we start on the path to properly memorializing and moving past 9/11.
posted by Marshall at Monday, September 11, 2006
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