3/11

I waited until now to post regarding the tragedy in Spain for several reasons. First, even the authorities aren't certain who is responsible. Second, I was late getting home and busy enough at work. But I'd like to make a couple of points:

When Bush says we're safer, I've got to disagree. One, you had the anthrax letters in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, then there have been bombings in Indonesia, Morocco, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, as well as plenty of flak in the form of disinformation that causes the Bush administration to jump like a little puppy that's chasing its tail. Now we have this.

Whether or not it's ETA, or Al Qaeda, or Al Qaeda-affiliated, or whoever, the message is clear: the so-called "War" on terror will no more kill the threat than shooting bullets at smoke will clear the air. Yes, I'm recycling that metaphor, but it's appropriate. Terrorists are NOT nations. Fighting a conventional war on terrorists is akin to using third-generation tactics of war against fourth-generation conflict. In the last century, the First World War was initially fought using the tactics of the 19th century and the equipment of the 20th century--with horrendous results for the soldiers who fought in the conflict (incuding my own grandfather, although, thankfully, he arrived late as an American, and, without any shame at all, told me that he often volunteered for K.P. In his broken english--grandpa was a mostly French-speaking Cajun--he told me that K.P. "put you in the back trench, and you could eat the leftovers." Good for him).

Of course, we could always opt for the police-state method of dealing with tragedies like 9/11--or 3/11. Basically piss on the notion of individual rights and freedoms, and turn the public into subjects of whatever you want to call the government at that point. But if that comes to pass, then the game is over. THAT'S when the terrorists have won.

And that's the Bush plan for dealing with terrorism. Use time-worn, out-of-date tactics, crush individual liberties, scare the shit out of the public with sinister advertising imagery, and hope that no one notices the fact that your cronies have looted the Treasury.

But the world is decidedly less safe as a result. And that's something Bush has to answer for: as the leader of the free world, his decisions weigh heavily when it comes to the fate of all of us--whether we are in the United States or anywhere else that accepts our pre-eminence as a world power--and Bush must accept responsibility for his decision to engage terrorism in such an archaic, and stupid manner.

Yes, the world HAS changed since 9/11. But not in the way the neo-cons--emphasis on con--ever imagined.