9/11 Was Bad, But …

[marmar]

From LA Times, via CommonDreams:


Published on Friday, April 27, 2007 by The Los Angeles Times
9/11 Was Bad, But …
The Attacks Were Appalling, But They Don’t Pose The Threat Politicians Make Them Out To Be.

by Rosa Brooks

Are we a nation of irrational wimps? Rudy Giuliani thinks so. On Tuesday, he claimed that if we elect a Democrat to the presidency, we should expect more 9/11-style attacks. This, he assumes, is enough to scare the pants off the voting public and send them scurrying frantically off to support Republicans such as … well, Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani’s line of argument — though “argument” is too generous a word — isn’t new. Since 9/11, our political leaders have proceeded on the assumption that Americans are cringing, cowardly souls more than ready, when we hear the word “terrorism,” to suspend our critical capacities, mortgage our futures and jettison our civil liberties and our principles — all for impossible assurances of “safety.” The awful thing is, many of us obediently conformed to this condescending stereotype. The United States is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world, but after 9/11, many of us started to act as if we’re in danger of imminent extinction.

We’re not.

The 9/11 attacks were appalling and tragic, but they did not threaten the survival of the nation. The year 2001 aside, total deaths (not just of Americans) caused by international terrorism worldwide have never exceeded — or even approached — 2,000 a year. Sept. 11 was an outlier: On 9/11, a group of brutal, extremist Islamic thugs got very lucky. Even Osama bin Laden couldn’t have imagined that the Twin Towers would collapse, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Of course, 3,000 dead is 3,000 too many. But keep it in perspective. As a nation, we have survived far worse. We lost more than 100,000 Americans in World War I, more than 400,000 in World War II, 37,000 in Korea, 58,000 in Vietnam — all without allowing our national character to turn into quivering jelly.

Every year, we also lose millions of Americans to preventable accidents and disease. We’re more likely to die on the road than as a result of Al Qaeda’s machinations. Annually, we lose some 43,000 people to auto accidents. For the grieving families, that’s 43,000 deaths too many. But, although we surely could reduce auto fatalities if we chose to make it our top national priority, the Bush administration has yet to announce a “War on Highway Deaths.” .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/27/792/

[baldguy]

1. Republicans count on getting the Irrational Wimp vote to stay in power.

[file83]

2. Fact is, Terrorism isn't that dangerous when compared to other hazards.

Of course, they have to create worst-case-scenarios to really scare us. Things that have never happened but MIGHT happen, like a nuke in a major metropolitan area.

If that happens, then we could lose 10's if not 100's of thousands of people in a flash.

Which is scary, but our nation has done NOTHING to prevent those sorts of things from happening - particularly our sea ports. We've all heard it before - only something like 5% of shipping containers get checked - so it could happen any day no matter who is President.

[DaveJ]

3. As long as we aren't focusing on ourselves

The last thing they want is for the unwashed masses to think about why they don't have unfettered access to health care, why they can't retire, or why we can't expect real privacy or freedom anymore.

Not just terror attacks, but abortions, rapes, school shootings, kidnappings, cats having sex with dogs... Hey it sounds like the Rapture -- they should look forward to it.