Waking up in a new world: Part I

George Weigel is a theologian and political analyst who I find writes rather thought-provoking opinion columns. In one, several months ago, he opines that America is divided into two groups. Those who believe that America can return to the world of September 10, 2001, and those who realize we can't. Count me in the latter group.

September 11, 2001 was a watershed moment in my life. In the world of September 10, 2001, my world consisted of trying to keep my sucky-ass job, working for a crappy manager, hoping I could hang on long enough for him to get promoted, fired, moved, hit by a bus, or maybe just piss of someone with a little less self-restraint than I possessed. The world that emerged the morning of September 11, 2001 changed all that. Gone were my petty moanings about how tough life was, how unfair it was to me, how I deserved better. It was replaced with images of burning and falling buildings, people jumping one hundred plus stories in a vain hope that God would catch them. Though I've never been an overly narcissistic person, on September 12, 2001, that was all gone. America was at war with something. I might not have been completely sure with what, but someone was going to get the shit kicked out of them. That much I knew for sure.

I've been following the current political debate concerning "lies", "false hoods", "manipulated intelligence", "mismanagement" and such, since it's impossible to avoid it. So I've taken finger-to-keyboard to remind some of us just what the world was like back in 2001, 2002 and 2003, when the decision - and vote - to invade Iraq took place. I'm planning on going back considerably further than that, so if you need to grab another beer, now is the time. Don't worry, I'll wait. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Back now? Good. Let's begin.

I'm going to begin with the morning of September 12, 2001, since I believe most of 9/11 was consumed by complete lack of coherence. Too many images, too much information, too much emotion. I don't blame George Bush for sitting in the elementary school for five or ten minutes digesting the news that the American homeland had been attacked on his watch and New York was burning. I must say, I was dazed for a lot longer than ten minutes. John Kerry stated in an interview that he and some of his colleagues were stunned into silence by the news of the attacks on New York City, and remained so until they were roused from their thoughts by the explosion at the Pentagon. I believe that was approximately 45 minutes. I do not begrudge him that period of contemplation, but I do think it's bad taste to use Bush's stunned minutes as a campaign issue considering Kerry's admitted lack of action.

As the clean up commenced, as the fires were doused, as the body parts began to be collected, identified and buried, America was in an entirely different mood than the one that permeates today's political world. In the dark days following 9/11, America was concerned with three things: the clean up, rebuilding and the burying of the dead; making sure we could plug whatever security holes these human scum (I was going to say 'dogs', but dogs deserve better than the comparison) used to enter America and pull this act off; and finding out who did it, and how we were going to crush them. Hence the Patriot Act was passed with huge bipartisan support. I mention that because the left believes the Patriot Act is a worthy club to beat Bush over the head with. But Bush did not write the Patriot Act, Congress did. Congress also passed it. That means Democrats and Republicans alike.

Correctly, America concluded bin Loser and Al Qaeda were the brains behind the operation. America demanded Afghanistan turn him over - or else. Afghanistan responded by stating that if America had any proof, they'd be glad to look at it, but unless they were overwhelmingly convinced, no one was getting turned over to any one. You know, the word Taliban translates, roughly to 'student.' I guess they didn't study American history.

Once America was in control of Afghanistan, the question turned to 'what next?' Could America build a democracy in Afghanistan, one of the least democratic countries in the history of the world? If I'm not mistaken, Afghans had never held a democratic election before. But America bent itself to the task at hand. Now, I'm only speaking for myself, I can't say what the powers that be in Washington were thinking, but it occurred to me, foreign nations do not have an impressive track record of occupying Afghanistan. Check with the Brits and the Ruskies on that issue. I could practically hear the retired mujahadeen breaking out their old AK-47's and RPG's while finalizing travel plans on Yahoo!. America had just created the world's largest terrorist magnet - and in a land of their choosing. Not a good proposition. So the questions then moves to: what next?

The facts were so real, so huge, so plain, laid out on the table for all to see. The violent, seamy, under-belly of Islamic fundamentalism had shown its ugly head, and America was their target. They had proved, beyond a shadow of doubt, they had the will, they had the means, and they had the guts to attack, and they promised to continue until every non-muslim in America was dead and crushed into the dirt. They proclaimed we stood no chance, since they love death more than we love life. They stated, we would die, they would rule, and they would win. So, we waited for the other shoe to fall.

And the question remained. What to do next. If America concentrated only on Afghanistan, what would we do about the rest of the Muslim world? Remember, on 9/11, Muslims were dancing in the streets in Gaza, the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and I'm sure many other places. Dancing at the river of American blood spilled because, we - not being Muslims - were destined to die horribly in the perverted name of their God. But it's not their God. There is no God, but God. It is our God too.

So America looked around and assessed the state of the Muslim world. When I say America, I don't mean all of us united, America is seldom united in anything - though on 9/12 we were united. The question then became, who's most likely to lead, follow, assist, help, or cover-up the next terrorist attack on our country. Throughout the entire middle east, one name continued to pop up.

Saddam Hussein.

More to Come....