National Insecurity

As Republicans gather in New York to celebrate George W. Bush, this is a good time to remember that three years after 9-11 America is no more secure than it was on that fateful day. We’ve had three years of “war on terror” but the forces and organizations that threaten America are alive and doing well. North Korea has increased its stockpile of nuclear weapons from two to eight since Bush took office. (And remember, he literally took the office.) Al-Qaeda and the Taleban have been rousted from Kabul but Afghanistan is still destabilized by warring militias. Al-Qaeda remains quite capable of striking in many parts of the world, including Iraq which was previously off limits to them. US forces are deeply mired in Iraq at the cost of about a dozen soldiers a week, over $200 billions and untold devastation in Iraqi cities and neighborhoods. At home, civil liberties are restricted to the point of threatening our open, democratic society. Three years of George Bush’s “steady leadership” has left America no more secure than on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Since that day George Bush and his cronies have terrorized Americans into a frenzy, a frenzy that generates unthinking support for grandiose and ineffective policies. The 9-11 attacks where a heinous crime that called for a strong response, no doubt about that. But Bush and company hijacked America’s fears to create an authoritarian regime that can act without restraint against other nations and organizations. And against Americans. America and the world suffer from Bush’s unthinking, misguided militarism. Thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead, their homes and neighborhoods are destroyed. Afghanis still suffer at the hands of warlords and civil strife. The very nations whose cooperation we need to deal with the international terrorism no longer trust America’s word or our motives.

Along with the human and economic losses, America lost its senses on 9-11. The horror of that day scared us so witless that we have allowed Bush and his cronies to squander this country’s good name in an illusory campaign for absolute security. This administration hoodwinked the nation into believing that military action is the only way to prevent another 9-11. That logic may have made some sense in Afghanistan but it’s wholly irrelevant to our current misadventure in Iraq. But questioning Bush’s illogic and his ineffective policies is labeled “unpatriotic” and “defeatist”. The strong leadership that will be celebrated by the Republicans this week is in reality, little more than a steady march to war to the exclusion of all other options. This single minded blindness dissipates America’s considerable moral and economic strength at a time when both could contribute much to the world.

One of the more dubious ideas that Bush has peddled to Americans is the need to attack our enemies “over there” before they attack us “over here”. This concept perverts legitimate self defense into a policy that wrecks havoc on other nations and their citizens. American weapons killed more Afghani civilians than al-Qaeda killed on 9-11. Iraqi civilian deaths easily exceed America’s 9-11 toll. The loss of homes and livelihoods is immense. In effect, Americans are convinced that it’s okay to attack and destroy other people and their homes in order to ensure that we are not ourselves attacked. What this policy fails to consider is that war is always fought in someone’s yard. I saw this in Vietnam as I patrolled roads and villages, as our artillery and bombs ripped the countryside apart. And I see it in Iraq as I watch the destruction wrought by American firepower. Most victims of our weaponry are not the ones who attacked us. They just happen to be in the way. But that’s okay, you see, we are doing this so that we can be safe. The bloody corpse of your son, the smoking rubble of your home, well, it’s for America's safety. Can anything be more antithetical to American tradition and values?

“We are all Americans now” wrote one French journalist on 9-11. On that day the world saw America as it had never been seen before and joined us in our sorrow and anger. But in the three years since that day George Bush squandered the opportunity to harness that spirit of solidarity and cooperation. His deceitful, arrogant and cynical view of the world has rendered America weaker, not stronger. When I see what this man has done in my name, I am embarrassed to be an American.