6 Years After 9/11, Do You Feel Safer?
Ask yourself this simple question:
Nearly six years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, do you feel safer?
No. Of course you don’t.
There are two interrelated reasons for this state of affairs: Terrorists in the 21st century are fiendishly adept at recruiting and adapting, while the Bush administration’s War on Terror has been a failure.
I am inclined to say that the latter doesn’t much matter because at the end of the day it is the former that counts the most, but that is a cop out.
As it is, the White House has been asserting for years (and President Bush won re-election by claiming) that much of Al Qaeda’s leadership had been killed or captured and invading Iraq would reduce the terrorist threat.
Both assertions are demonstratively false and can be traced back to a single event.
Osama bin Laden and many of his key lieutenants remain at large and are comfortably ensconced in the mountainous border region of western Pakistan, while the Iraq war has been gasoline on the fire of the Islamic jihad by breeding a whole new generation of terrorists.
In perhaps the most outrageous turn of events in a presidential tenure littered with bad judgments, the fires at the World Trade Center were still burning when the decision was made not to throw the full weight of America’s might at the Al Qaeda leadership but to instead go after Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator who had long been in the neocon crosshairs but had only the most tangential connection to the Islamic jihad.
The folly of that decision is on full display in a declassified 800-word summary of the latest National Intelligence Estimate.
The new estimate does state that several terror plots against the U.S. have been disrupted because of increased vigilance and countermeasures, but the landscape looks starkly similar to the pre-9/11 world, a profound a rebuke by the administration’s very own analysts of the Bush bluster that he has made us safer.
As noted in Joe’s roundup below, a perversely absurd consequence of the president’s fear mongering is that his defenders are now arguing that a terrorist threat that he himself created justifies staying the course in Iraq.
While the intelligence estimate does not address the situation in the homeland itself, it is just as screwed up because politics has been put ahead of safety. Sound familiar?
Under the original scheme, homeland security funds were equally distributed among all U.S. states, including crucibles of terrorism like Wyoming, which happens to be our carpetbagging vice president’s adopted state.
This mischief resulted in Wyoming getting $37.74 in anti-terror dough per capita, which meant that every caribou could be issued a biohazard suit, while the Northwest Arctic Borough, an area in Alaska inhabited by 7,300 people, spent $233,000 (or $31.91 per capita) to buy decontamination tents, night vision goggles and other equipment. New York got a measly $5.41 per capita, leaving some of its most pressing needs underfunded or not funded at all.
Then last year, DHS announced that it would evaluate requests for funding based less on, er . . . politics and more on where terrorists are likely to strike. Unfortunately, the change was driven less by common sense than a shortfall in funding because of . . . (drum roll please!) the war in Iraq.
The president has appointed an appalling rogues gallery of political hacks and other partisans to key homeland security posts. (Recall that his first choice for the job now held by Michael “I’ve Got a Feeling in My Gut” Chernoff was the mobbed-up Bernard Kerik.)
The administration has been so lackadaisical about homeland security that it has failed to fill about a quarter of the top leadership posts at Chernoff’s shop, creating a “gaping hole” in the nation’s preparedness for a terrorist attack, according to a congressional report.
Aided by a compliant Congress, the White House has repeatedly bowed to powerful benefactors in the ports, chemical, rail transport and other key industries in backing away from homeland security reforms.
With Vice President Cheney’s son-in-law leading the charge, the chemical industry has resisted all efforts to protect U.S. chemical plants against attacks, and a compliant White House and Congress has rolled over and let industry lobbyists scratch their tummies.
Meanwhile, Fran Townsend, Bush’s homeland security adviser, held a news conference to sugarcoat the intelligence estimate and predictably glossed over the new and arguably more threatening Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, asserting that it was one and the same with the old and still threatening Al Qaeda in Pakistan.
As The New York Times notes:
“The message, as always: Be very afraid. And don’t question the president.”
33 Responses to “6 Years After 9/11, Do You Feel Safer?”
notice how the US is referred to as “The Homeland”. That to me smacks of the habit of the Nazis’ nom de guerre “Fatherland”.
Shaun: It’s rare, but I have no disagreement here.
Johnny: I’ve always felt the same about that new bureaucracy’s title. Next Prez needs to change it.
What is amazing is that nothing more has happened. I can only imagine that this is to the credit of thousands of invisible law-enforcement officers and intelligence agents doing their job no matter what the political breeze says. Otherwise I think it likely that we would have been struck sooner.
Shaun, I don’t mean to be annoying but I do have a reader request. Could you posibly use a different picture for the post? It could be 9/11 themed but this particular one is disturbing, with the plane poised to strike, knowing all those people were about to die, it just brings back bad memories.
Shaun, I think there’s a critical third reason and it’s mentioned much later in this piece; Bush’s fear mongering. We don’t feel safer because we’re being manipulated into being fearful. It has worked so well that many Americans think it’s just fine to sacrifice the Constitution and civil liberties to combat the menace.
Bruce Fein, the Reagan administration lawyer who wrote the articles of impeachment on Clinton, is now calling for the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney, for creating this Constitutional crisis:
Fein argues quite effectively that the only way to restore constitutional law is to prosecute Bush and Cheney as an example to future presidents. He does not believe the next president will give up any of the power claimed by Bush and Cheney.
Lynx:
I share your pain regarding the photo and it was chosen for precisely the reason that it so upsets you.
Let’s layer on the pain by noting that one of the people who would perish shortly after the photograph was taken was John O’Neill.
By August 2001, the CIA knew that three of the men who were later identified as being among the hijackers were in the U.S. but refused to share the information with O’Neill, who had just stepped down as the head of the FBI’s New York City office, or anyone else in the bureau or larger intelligence community.
Meanwhile, FBI agents separately learned that two other hijackers also were in the U.S., but headquarters failed to connect the dots and also refused to share the information.
Lawrence Wright picks up the story from there in The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11:
Let’s also note that by her own admission, Condi Rice was still fighting the Cold War. Yes, the key White House player in the unfolding drama was AWOL.
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Umh – fatherland is a very normal term and continues to be used by Europeans. It might remind you of the Nazis but that’s probably because you are not used to the term fatherland and, therefore, connect it with Nazis. Reality is, however, that dutch, french, spanish, italian, turks, germans, austrians, etc. etc. use similar terms.
It’s true, in Spain the fatherland is called “la patria”. I suppose you’ve heard of patriotism. Still, the fact the word is used in many countries doesn’t mean connotation might be different in different countries. I think what it means in the minds of the people is what’s important. In Spain it sounds very old-fashioned and associated with “excessive patriotism” (read fascism) but that’s just our hangup.
On a micro/personal level I never bought into the terror threat. Despite the fear mongering, did the average person really change their habits after 9-11. What is a dirty bomb and is the danger significant than tainted spinach or pet food? Many of the “terror experts” are making a small fortune over the scare, but what is the real threat.
On a macro/national level there is a threat, but is it greater than Soviet communism, US radical militias or the race riots of the 1960′s? Does the threat level of “Islamo-Stooges” warrant a new government agency(DHS) and bio-hazard suits for caribou?
Living near Dearbonistan, I haven’t seen sharia law imposed in Dearborn or heard of terror cells in Sterling Heights. Little Debbie Schussel may be worried, but the threat gives her a forum on radio and Fox News. The Big Mav is safe from cell phone shoppers. A local Detroiter sees more danger due to construction, local crime and mercury tainted Great Lakes fish. A couple of local Iraqis are on trial for being spies, their ties to Saddam date before 1991. The first Detroit “terror cell” trial resulted in sanctuions against the prosecutor, where is the outrage on the level of the Duke lacross(sp) case?
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Rudi,
What’s disgusting is that our President has created the monster he told us he was fighting after 9/11.
Certainly the average citizen still has nothing to worry about as far as terrorism goes, but thanks to Bush, it’s getting worse.
Chris – The US voters are also to blame for accepting the BS. To deflect at little, baseball turned around in the 90′s with the McGuire/Sosa home run derby, never mind that steroids fueled the show. Parents in the US spend millions on WWE pay per view and action figure toys, never mind the death toll of the WWE employees. What was the results of baseball and steriods, a Senate hearing with our game playing heroes testifying under oath. Rafeal Palmero(sp) is threatened with indictment for perjury(Scooter?) and the Tillman family hears their hopes for further hearings dashed by “executive privilege”. Why don’t we put Kagan,Kagan and Kristol infront of a Senate hearing? Don’t blame Bush, blame the voters and Chris Matthews-types who bought the “flowers and chocolate” story.
Rudi: You got it.
Bush is an idiot, and Dick is evil, and Condo is a twit.
BUT, more people than not voted these losers in in ’04. Why? Yes, Kerry was a bad alternative, but there were others running.
Does anyone really think that Hillary or Rudy- the two most likely now, are going to significantly change things.
Until the electorate takes responsibility for who they vote in, the old saying about democracies getting the leaders they deserve is true, because the American electorate is dumb, lazy, partisan, and not open to real change.
The rabble: hang that unpatriotic SOB from the nearest tree. He’s a Commie….oh, wait, no, he’s a terrorist!
Rudi,
I think we moved beyond Caveat Emptor when you think about the concerted effort between the government and the media to sell us on Bush’s “adventures” in the Middle East and his “excesses” at home.
Sure, people bought into it, and they share some responsibility, but the greater blame goes to the people who lied and manipulated the rest of us. They have the money and the power to beam propaganda into our living rooms, onto our papers and at our ears every single moment of the day.
Chris:
Bushco is not particularly good at manipulation nor agitprop. The blame is with the people.
Cosmo – Cheney is evil, I will say that. He brought the unitary executive, Fielding and Rummy along after his Watergate days. I would put much of the blame on him. I wonder what the press says about his “gravitas” now?
The other two are simplifications of those two. W can’t be an idiot, look where he’s at now. I would compare him to Billy ford and his inept run as CEO of Ford. Corporation are like parliamentary systems, at least both have a no confidence vote. When Billy turned Ford back into an Edsel, the family put the horse head in his bed.
Condo is overrated by her fans on the Right, would you want her for POTUS, or is a better place as provost at a school smaller than Stanford, maybe Faber College. Does she deserve the praise or scorn of Marshall or Kissinger? While the “bunch” does have impressive resumes, the CEO assembled a bad team and won’t admit his mistakes. Selling off assets and treasure to prop up the bottom line doesn’t make the CEO an Iaccoca, just a Ken Lay.
Cosmoetica makes a good point.
Simply electing a Clinton or Giuliani will make relatively little difference in and of itself.
Although I did not say so in my post, the intelligence agencies that Bush inherited and promised to reform are arguably as big a mess today as they were on 9/10/01.
The half-hearted effort to train and hire Arabic speakers is unconscionable.
It is not difficult to imagine a scenario whereby terrorists gain access to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
Efforts to win over the so-called Arab Street have been puh-fricking-thetic.
But in the end we do, as Cosmoetica notes, get the government we deserve and there won’t be any kind of a turnaround until people put down their i-Pods and get involved.
I for one am not holding my breath.
Rudi: I’m not arguing with your claims, but they, themselves, did not get the power w/o help. Even counting 2000, and the steal of the election, look how many voted for a clear incompetent.
And despite the hagiographies of Gore now, he was a right of center DLC guy w a bad environmental record from the Clinton days.
Of course, the best choice- Bill Bradley, didn’t get the nod, just as the best the D’s had in 04- Gen. Clark, did not.
Until both parties start nomonating good candidates, the same old same old continues. The solution. DO NOT VOTE!
I know that goes against the Rock The Vote BS about participation, but if only 5% of the electorate turne dout, I think there wd be some notice.
Cosmo – Gore is now catching flack from the Humane Society for his blatant disregard for endanger fish served at his daughters wedding. I hate to give credit to the Hannity’s, but we don’t see Gore driven around in a Prius. I hope the ghost of of Zappa haunts their quaint mansion. Tipper and the PMRC …
Bradley I say OK, Clark while an intellectual, was a terrible campaigner and politician.
I agree that Clark was a bad politician- i.e.- a bad liar, but he actually got better at campaigning. It was too late.
“Efforts to win over the so-called Arab Street have been puh-fricking-thetic. ”
Shaun or anyone else – Has anybody seen Karen Hughes lately? Have their been any trips or anything else coming out of her office? Is she even in DC anymore or is she “working” from Texas? My guess is her high paying job with the State Dept. is another reward for a Bush croney.
jdledell:
Fairly slim pickings on the Karen Hughes front.
She does make a cameo in a Lebanese newspaper article about the U.S. stepping up effort to educate the Arab Street about the omnipotent America, and she recently delivered an address to the Youth Orchestra of the Americas in suburban Washington.
He drives a hybrid Lexus. Good enough for you?
While waiting for a sea change in US politics, and blasting the stupidity of the electorate, there are things that people can do that have at least a chance of being more productive than just ranting about failures, past and present.
There are letter writing, e-mail and phone call campaigns. There are demosntrations and the like.
I bombard my representatives in Washington with e-mail messages, but few of the people I know who agree with me about issues do likewise. I m not sure what frustrates me more, our broken government in Washington or the lawn chair critics
who won’t lift a finger except to point it at someone who is to blame. I have to wonder what difference it would make if, instead of 5 e-mails
a senator received 500 or 5000, all expressing the same opinion.
To clarify, I fully support blaming. It’s part of identfying a problem Let’s just remember that it doesn’t solve the problem.
Posters on blogs, at least, contribute to awareness.
What do the rest of us do?
About fear, I have to say that since I watched the second plane crash into the WT towers from my office building in Brooklyn, fear is always somewhere in the back of my mind. I acknowlege it, but I can live normally with it. It’s just there, along with grief for past losses and all the other baggage of life.
I become enraged when I see fear used as a political tool It picks at a sore without offering a cure or felief. It’s a cowardly way to talk about important topics. It’s snake oil in a pretty bottle.
My TV set has heard more swearing than a boat load of sailors.
Chemical plants came to my attention some months ago, after a series of fires and a documenatry about a lone journalist trying to bring their vulnerability to the public’s attention.
Where did this notion come from, that businesses (in this case, the owners of chemical facilities) bear no responsibility for securing their plants? I have a small swimming pool, and I am responsible for proper security precautions. We hear so much about personal responsibility. Why is there no concept of business responsibility?
Domojat,
Emailing is, in my opinion, a total waste of time.
Contact your ow representatives, not those of other states/congressional districts. And do it via snail mail.
They may well still ignore it, but you’ve got a better chance via USPS.
Davebo-
I write letters, as well.
A few times I’ve received feed back on e-mail to the effect that, yes, they had received many messages like mine.
It mostly all ends up in the garbage, I’m sure, but it is something we can do, and once in a while, it may count for something.
Ahab without Moby, Holmes without Moriarty, Valjean without Jalbert, Tweety without Sylvester…what are you guys going to do with your lives after Bush leaves office?
I think that the mantra of “we’re fighting them over there so they don’t come over here” is being enforced by the latest NIE whether intentionally or not. The “chaos” theory that has been perpetuated is possibly being played out. Soon we are going to pull out and the region will be left to sort it out on its own:
1) The locals will try to get rid of AQ Mesopotamia
2) The Iranians will try to reinforce their bretheren and will be dragged into a decades long fight for influence in the South and perhaps Bhagdad
3) The Saudis will try to push in and influence
4) The Turks will also get involved
5) and so on
Maybe this will make us safer in the short term by having all our “enemies” fighting each other. But, I fear for the future after the dust settles…..
I heard Condi Rice being interviewed on NPR today. She’s still out of touch with reality and still saying anything it takes to defend Bush.
” I think that the mantra of “we’re fighting them over there so they don’t come over here†is being enforced by the latest NIE”
ktmnyny – I think the Iraqis following us home is a bunch of BS. The Afgan mujahideen (Bin Ladin and the core of today’s Al Qaeda) did not follow the Soviets home after they kicked them out of Afganistan(with out considerable help). The Vietnamese did not follow us home and neither did the Serbians, or the Russians. In fact, I cannot think of a single instance where the winners or losers of wars the US fought, followed us home.
We have made out the muslim world as absolutely unique. For the most part, what we consider radical Islamic groups are nothing more than nationalistic movements. Hamas cares only about Palesinte and Israel. Hezballah cares only about Lebanon and Israel. The Taliban care about Afganistan. The Sunni and Shite radicals in Iraq care only about their country. In fact, if the US left I think the Iraqis would very quickly slaughter Al Qaeda in Iraq. Neither the sunni or shia in Iraq are interested in an Islamic Caliphate.
Frankly, the only ones that spout out the nonsense about establishing a world wide Islamic Caliphate are Bin Ladin and his core Al Qeada group. First of all, it’s an impossible objective amd second of all that “dream” in the muslim world will start to die with the death of Bin Ladin and his core group. That is where our efforts should be concentrated.
As to other countries coming into Iraq after we leave, I thinks the risks are minimal. The Shites in Iraq do not need any direct help from Iran to consolidate their gains in Southern Iraq and Baghdad. The Badr and Sadr mililtias along with the 80% Shia Iraq army and police are sufficient to put down the Sunnis without Iranian help. Iraqi’s are fiercely nationalistic ( witness the shia fighting against Iran 1980-1988) and would not allow Iran to consolidate Iraqi territory. The Turks and Kurds will continue to skirmish for decades but I don’t see that becoming a full scale war. The Kurds are not stupid, they know they cannot win a full scale war against Turkey. We cannot stop these skirmishes now and we should not bother in the future.
The Sunni will be confined to Al Anbar and portions of some other provinces. Without oil resources, neither the Shia or Kurds will worry about them and it won’t be in the Saudis interest or ability to do much about the truncated Sunni state.
That’s my view.
I promised myself I would refrain from responding to your posts, but, I did mention that masochistic part of me, too.
As you seem to love to trot out any poll that reflects negatively on Bush, then let’s bring up the latest Zogby poll that show 82% of the public feels safe.
Do polls you don’t agree with not count, or are polls simply not relevant on subjects if they don’t match up to your pre-conceived ideas?
jdledell, right on every count. the worst case scenario we’ve been sold about us leaving is as phony as the best case scenario we were sold about us winning. Here.
As for “feeling safer,” who cares? Are we actually safer is the relevant question. I think not. The NIE confirms that.
This whole meme of ‘we haven’t been attacked so it’s working’ is so dangerously complacent, but typical of the right’s obsession with image over substance. Only a trivial fraction of our imports are screened, chemical factories and nuclear facilities are woefully insecure and even our capitals are not safe, witness the gunman drawing a gun in the office of the Governor of Colorado.