Clicking on banner ads keeps JWR alive
Jewish World Review Sept. 13, 2001 / 24 Elul, 5761

Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports

ENTER TERROR

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- THEY ravaged the New York skyline as a bitter show of their force. They hijacked planes filled with unwitting passengers to prove that they are as ruthless as they are organized. They invaded the heart of the U.S. military and showed Americans that we are vulnerable to terror.

Terror.

Whoever they are, they want America to be frozen in terror.

Even people not involved in the attack want America to suffer. Those toothless Palestinians who reacted by celebrating and yelling, "G-d is great," want us to turn into Western versions of them -- dedicated to a stupefying hatred. They want us to be as ugly as they are.

Rage, dear reader, at the carnage, at the innocent lives snuffed, at the cruel way the victims died. Rage at the senselessness of an operation dedicated to killing people who aren't even an enemy.

Rage, but resolve not to let this episode turn America into a lesser country.

President Bush ordered "a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act."

Great. Still, the president should know that there are many Americans less interested in speed than accuracy and effectiveness. Get the real bad guys, and if there is military action, work to minimize "collateral damage." Terrorists don't care who they kill. The United States of America should.

Precision, please. Remember that an early, off-base strike can enable some of those cowards to elude punishment.

Pundits already are comparing this day to Pearl Harbor, and Admiral Yamamoto's declaration that he feared the bombing had awakened "a sleeping giant."

America will never be the same, some say. Hereafter, the country will be more vigilant.

That's fine, as long as the vigilance doesn't turn the country into a nation bent on distrust.

Congress no doubt will investigate how intelligence agencies were blindsided. Washington politicians will ask why, for example, Osama bin Laden was not tracked down and brought to justice since both the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. They'll be outraged that prosecuting terrorists was not accorded due priority.

Then there are those countries that have been happy to harbor terrorists. President Bush should come up with a payback plan that squeezes them.

Frequent travelers cannot be surprised that airport security failed to prevent four hijackings. Security checks of late have had the feel of a bureaucratic nuisance, not only for passengers, it seems, but for many security workers, as well. Washington must look for ways to make air travel less vulnerable to terrorism.

At the same time, Americans must beware of the danger of going overboard. Law enforcement must be careful to refrain from reckless racial profiling that gratuitously targets various ethnic groups. Civil liberties must not be sacrificed in a post-attack hysteria.

The terrorists win if Americans retreat into their homes, avoiding planes and government buildings. Citizens must resolve not to let this attack turn America into a barricade nation.

Never forget why terrorists target America. It's not our faults that bother them as much as our strengths and basic goodness.

Those are thoughts for tomorrow. For today, we must take a moment to bow our heads in remembrance of those who died. This week, families will gather to cry and rage at the loss of fathers and mothers, daughters and sons. There is no way to give their deaths meaning. One can only hope that their deaths don't spawn more stupidity and violence.


Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here.


Up


09/11/01: You can't clone ethics
09/06/01: NOW's goal: equal rights for women without equal responsibility
08/30/01: What's love got to do with it?
08/24/01: A clean, well-lighted place for junkies
08/20/01: Bush should stand up for justice
08/08/01: Don't give Peace (Dept). a chance
08/03/01: Lose a kid, pass a law
08/01/01: Welcome to France, killers
07/30/01: Why it's easy being green (in Europe)
07/26/01: If disabled means expendable
07/23/01: Condit should not resign
07/18/01: Feinstein should learn her limit
07/16/01: A drought of common sense
07/13/01: The catalog has no clothes
07/05/01: It's Bush against the planet
07/03/01: The man who would be guv
06/29/01: Wheeled, wired and free
06/27/01: O, fearful new world
06/25/01: End HMO horrors
06/21/01: Either they're dishonest or clueless
06/18/01: Freedom is a puff of smoke
06/15/01: In praise of going heavy: Yes, you can take it all
06/13/01: McVeigh: 'Unbowed' maybe, but dead for sure
06/11/01: Gumby strikes back
06/08/01: Los Angeles' last white mayor?
06/07/01: Kids will be kids, media will be media
06/04/01: Draw a line in the sand
05/30/01: Just don't call him a moderate
05/29/01: Operation: Beat up on civil rights
05/24/01: Of puppies, kittens and huge credit-card debts
05/22/01: Bush needs an energy tinkerbell
05/18/01: Divided we stand, united they fall
05/16/01: Big Bench backs might over right
05/15/01: Close SUV loophole
05/11/01: Kill the test, welcome failure
05/09/01: DA mayor's disappointing legacy
05/07/01: If it ain't broken ...
05/03/01: They shoot civilians, don't they?
04/30/01: Executions are not for prime time
04/12/01: White House and the green myth
04/10/01: The perjurer as celeb
04/04/01: Bush bashers don't know squat
04/02/01: Drugging our oldsters
03/30/01: Robert Lee Massie exercises his death wish
03/28/01: Cheney's nuclear reactor
03/26/01: Where California and Mexico meet
03/16/01: Boy's sentence was no accident
03/14/01: Soft money, hard reform
03/12/01: Banks, big credit lines and consumer bankruptcy
03/09/01: Free speech dies in Berkeley
03/02/01: When rats have rights
02/28/01: Move a frog, go to jail?
02/26/01: They knew they'd get away with it
02/20/01: How Dems define tax fairness
02/16/01: The jackpot casino Carmel tribe?
02/14/01: You can fight school success
02/12/01: Hannibal -- with guts this time
02/08/01: A family of jailbirds
02/05/01: Reality's most demeaning TV moments
02/01/01: Justice for the non-Rich
01/26/01: Hail to the chiefs of D.C. opinion
01/24/01: A day of mud and monuments
01/22/01: Diversity, division, de-lovely D.C.
01/19/01: Parties agree: Give back the money
01/17/01: Get tough with the oil companies, or forget pumping more Alaskan crude
01/15/01: Mineta better pray that no attending confirmation senator has ever driven to San Jose during rush hour
01/12/01: Europeans should look in the mirror
01/10/01: Dems' reasons for dissin' Dubya's picks
01/08/01: Jerry, curb your guru
01/03/01: A foe of Hitler and friend of Keating
12/28/00: Nice people think nice thoughts
12/26/00: The Clinton years: Epilogue
12/21/00: 'Tis the season to free nonviolent drug offenders 12/18/00: A golden opportunity is squandered
12/15/00: You can take the 24 years, good son
12/13/00: Court of law vs. court of public opinion
12/08/00: A salvo in the war on the war on drugs
12/06/00: Don't cry, Butterfly: Big trees make great decks
12/04/00: Florida: Don't do as Romans did
11/30/00: Special City's hotel parking ticket
11/27/00: No means yes, yes means more than yes
11/22/00: The bench, the ballot and fairness
11/20/00: Mendocino, how green is your ballot?

© 2000, Creators Syndicate