The Next 9/11?
Like many Americans, I have spent the past 18
months since September 11, 2001 wondering when the
next big terrorist attack will explode on our soil.
Our military has inflicted much damage on al Qaeda
and other terrorist organizations since 9/11, but
in what seems to have become the "Age of
Terrorism," we're still deep in the woods. Like the
busy road outside my window, the threat of
terrorism is always out there, occasionally
reminding me of its presence like the Harleys that
sometimes drive by.
Such nagging concern lurking in the back of
one's mind is nothing new for Southern
Californians. We conduct our daily lives with such
subconscious apprehension, perennially expecting
the "Big One," the next great earthquake that's
overdue to shake us out of our complacency. It's
not a fear that most obsess over, but it does
occasionally prairie-dog itself into one's
conscious mind, barking "Hey, remember me?"
And so it has been for most Americans since
9/11. Snipers, mystery illnesses and Orange Alerts
have kept us on the edge—perhaps not quite
"terrorized," but certainly not relaxed. Now that
we have invaded Iraq—a country that has been
at least a friend, if not a supporter, of al
Qaeda—it's hard not to think that the next big
attack on our homeland will come sooner rather than
later. But just what form would such an attack
take? And why hasn't it happened before now?
CBS's "60 Minutes" may have answered the first
question. For those who missed tonight's
segment, the news magazine revisited and
updated the known threat to commercial airliners
posed by shoulder-fired missiles. Apparently, many
of such weapons are in the hands of terrorists
worldwide, and experts have speculated that many of
them may have already been smuggled into the United
States. Highly mobile and very easy to use, these
missiles could be fired some distance from an
airport, taking out an inbound or outbound
commercial aircraft such as a 747.
As for the second question—why hasn't such
an attack already happened—the short answer
is, it already has. Last November, terrorists in
Kenya fired two such missiles at an Israeli
commercial jet, but missed. As for why such an
attack hasn't happened here in the U.S., I have my
own theory. On September 11, terrorists learned
that it was possible to operate on a grand,
spectacular scale. Al Qaeda showed what could be
achieved with precise planning, patient preparation
and military-like discipline. Perhaps al Qaeda or
some other group possesses these shoulder-fired
missiles within our borders, but is planning a much
more spectacular attack than just one downed
aircraft. Imagine waking up to news reports that
terrorists had simultaneously fired such weapons at
airports across the country, destroying 20
passenger airliners and killing another three
thousand innocent victims.
In the past, Osama bin Laden's organization has
operated on an approximately 17-month cycle, which
would make us due for another attack here or abroad
at any time. With war raging in Iraq, the threat
becomes all the more tangible. The scenario I
described above does not seem out of the realm of
possibility. And it is a threat that our leaders
have not ignored, whether seen as a threat against
one or many commercial aircraft. Senator Chuck
Schumer (D-New York) and colleagues have introduced
a bill to install anti-missile
countermeasures—already in place on Air Force
One, some executive jets and all of Israel's El Al
airliners—on all U.S. commercial aircraft. The
price tag, $10 billion, is a cost that airline
companies on the verge of bankruptcy can ill
afford. U.S. taxpayers would have to foot the bill
for such upgrades. Such a hefty expenditure is hard
to contemplate with an economy that has been
lagging for years, but Schumer made a good point on
"60 Minutes": if even one passenger jet were shot
down, everyone would stop flying. The economic
effect of such a catastrophe would likely far
exceed $10 billion.
Which leads me to my final point. It seems to me
that we're losing the War on Terror. Even as we
achieve military victories in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere, our economy continues to reel a year and
a half after 9/11. We have expended untold billions
bailing out the airline companies; creating a new
Department of Homeland Security; conducting
military operations both large and small; beefing
up security at airports, borders and ports; and
cleaning up the World Trade Center rubble.
Psychologically, we have become a skittish nation,
despite the American flags decorating half the cars
on the road. Even if terrorists never strike us
again, the effect of 9/11 has reached far beyond
the scar on Manhattan and caused far more
devastation than the loss of 3,000 lives and two
skyscrapers. Terrorists don't have to strike us
again to cause us to spend billions preparing for
attacks; we're already doing so. If politicians
would make the American people assume a greater
amount of risk for living in such a risky time,
then perhaps we wouldn't have to spend so much, and
maybe the economy would rebound quicker. But of
course, such action would be political suicide. So
to give every American man, woman and child a
slightly greater sense of security, we will
continue to bleed dollars from the wound inflicted
on us 18 months ago.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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What is "The Daily Strick"?
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Previously...
3/29:
Tomorrow's
Gonna Suck
3/28:
Willing
to Change
3/27:
Tropical
Memories
3/26:
Regurgitation
3/25:
Piece
of the Puzzle
3/24:
Echoes
in Eternity
3/23:
Booing
for Columbine
3/22:
Not
Recommending Diving
3/21:
Works
in Progress
3/20:
Three
Rings of Shock & Awe
3/19:
Paris—A
Beautiful Blur
3/18:
Ignorant
Idiot Man
3/17:
The
Pirate Queen
3/16:
To
War or Not to War
3/15:
So
Long, Seau
3/14:
Telemarketing
Pays
3/13:
Free,
For Now
3/12:
Chicken
Little Gets Respect
3/11:
Axis
of Evil
3/10:
Writing
Kept Me From Writing
3/9:
King
Arthur
3/8:
The
Women are Smarter
3/7:
Salt
on Old Wounds
3/6:
3/3/03,
3:33 p.m.
3/5:
Beer
Day
3/4:
Pulling
the Trigger
3/3:
Make
'Em Laugh
3/2:
Whither
Iraq?
3/1:
Strickland
Cellars
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