The End of an Era...
If there was one single word that could best describe what made American civilization different from any other, it would be ‘carefree’. This is no longer the case.
There was always a feeling of confidence here, that no foreign power would ever come to these shores to inflict massive death and devastation. This is exactly what just happened. And we know that if it happened once, it may happen again.
Our system of justice is based on the concept of personal responsibility, of punishing the perpetrator of a crime. The most immediate perpetrators of this crime are already dead, and most of their friends and followers are prepared to give their lives for their cause, they have little fear of any punishment we could inflict upon them personally.
The enemy is not so much individual people, as a certain mindset. How do you apprehend, try, convict and punish – a mindset? We don’t know how to do that.
From a spy satellite or an airplane, you may be able to observe a few guys sitting around and discussing something, but in order to know what they are saying, one of them has to be your agent. In order to have such agents, you need to be able to recruit them from a pool of people who are ready to sacrifice their lives if necessary. You will have more such people, if we, our country, our families, our way of life are threatened. Now, we will probably have more such people.
Mindsets… cannot be destroyed by brief campaigns of bombings and explosions, no matter how severe. It would take lasting resolve, and the ability for an ongoing struggle, using whatever means necessary.
World Trade Center will not be rebuilt. The miracle of the two beautiful tall twin towers will not be repeated for many, many generations. The memory of the thousands of lost lives will remain with us forever. And so will the recognition of our vulnerability Life will never be the same. America is no longer carefree.
AK |
