Monday, September 11, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

Well, here it is, September 11th again. A day when all media outlets will try to outdo each other with somber rememberances of this date, five years ago.

Today, our political leaders, community leaders, religious leaders, spiritual leaders, teachers, bus drivers, auto mechanics, and stay-at-home-moms/dads will wail and gnash their teeth about the tragic day. As a nation, we will moan about how our lives have changed, and how we all feel "less safe". We will talk about the things our government has done to make us more safe, or, depending on your viewpoint how much less safe the country is. Today, we will do one of the things that Americans do better than nearly everyone. Feel aggrieved.

We are right to feel aggrieved... but let's not get too weepy, ok?

I'm going to tell you something that the current administration doesn't want you to know. It isn't classified, but they don't want you to know this:

Terrorists Aren't a Major Threat To American National Security.

Didn't get that? Here is is again: Terrorists Aren't a Major Threat To American National Security.

"But, but, but... How can you say that, Bill!!!???"

Here's the thing: Terrorists have the ability to kill American citizens. These killings usually are numbered in tens, sometimes in dozens. Occasionally they get lucky and do something really large and get to kill a hundred or more. Then there are the spectacular and so far, once-only, times when more than two thousand Americans/westerners are killed. I don't mean to make light of the deaths of innocents, but I have to say that with numbers like that, Islamist terrorists can't hope for any real victory. Let's be honest... every time there is a terrorist attack against Americans, our country winds up killing people in Islamic countries in a number way out of proportion to our losses.

Asshats with strap-on bombs, or hijackers, or car bombers, etc.... can only bother us. They are sort of like a wasp stinging an elephant. The wasp may hurt the elephant, and he may hurt the elephant more than once, but at the end of the day, the wasp will die much sooner than the elephant, and for all the stinging, the elephant's life will continue much as it always had.

We need to be aware about terrorism. We need to pay attention to the mintuae of security. We need to undestand nothign we can do will make this stop completely. We need to gut up and quit whining.

We haven't seen the end of this, nor will our grandchildren.

There have always been terrorists.

There will always be terrorists.

Terrorists will always be able to kill people that live in democracies, because it is in the nature of enlightened, civilized, democratic societies to be open. Remember folks, places with the lowest crime rates are police states, and I'll have none of that, thank you.

There are threats to this country. There are nations that would love to see our demise, chief among them is a country called China... and they will probably win their war against us without ever firing a shot.

While the current administration keeps using Islamist fruitcakes to scare the electorate by trundling like they are a major threat to our sovereignty, the Chinese threat grows, and grows, yet we do nothing about it.

So, be of good cheer, be wary of terrorism, drive your SUV to WalMart, buy a new tank for the People's Liberation Army.

Likely we'll never know what hit us.

1 comment:

The Thinking Black Man said...

This is exactly why I tell my wife all the time that I want our kids to learn three other languages: American Sign, Spanish and Mandarin.

The 20th Century was the century of the United States, but the 21st century is going to be the century of China. They have the workforce, the know-how, the international agreements, the military, the determination, and most importantly - The Hunger!

I tell people all the time that China is a force to be reckoned with. The way I drive my point home is - I tell people to pick any 10 things in their home that weigh less than two pounds (I don't know why I picked 2 pounds, I just did...) and I say look at the bottom and see where they are made. 9 out of these 10 items will be made in China!!!

I tell them to let that sit in. So much of what we Americans have is made from China. I'm willing to bet the reverse is NOT true in China.

Hmm, I wonder how you say, "I need to feed my wife and kids - I'll work for food." in Mandarin?