Dan

Calabrese

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December 2, 2008

Mumbai and Long Island: Two Rampages for an Unserious America

Two events in the same week may explain the strange asymmetry between the global threat of terrorism and America’s prevailing attitude toward it.

In Mumbai, India, more than 100 people are slain by radical Islamists. Although the target is overseas, the principal targets are Americans, Britons and Israelis. President Bush sends Secretary of State Rice to India to do what she can to assist the Indians in their response while trying to prod the neophyte government of Pakistan – the presumptive origin of the plot – to get serious about investigating and apprehending the perps.

On Long Island, New York, several thousand people trample to death a Wal-Mart employee who had the misfortune of standing between the mob and a selection of discounted X-boxes.

In September 2001, President Bush told America that the war on terror would be long and difficult, but needed to be fought because of the ruthlessness and determination of an enemy set on nothing less than the destruction of western society. Americans, caught up in the moment, echoed the president when he implored us: “Let’s roll.”

Until the new season of American Idol started. Until it became OK for late-night comedians to make jokes again. Until Brad left Jen for Angelina, and oh, did you see the adorable pictures of little Shiloh?

Hey. Isn’t this dumb war over yet? It’s all so 2002. And hey! I was told I could flip this house inside of two years for a 50 percent profit! I’ll be contacting a real estate attorney immediately to get myself out of this silly mortgage contract.

Life in this country has been so damn easy for so long, it has become almost second nature for Americans not to take any real problem seriously, especially if it isn’t laying right on our doorstep. When terrorism briefly made an appearance on our shores seven years ago, we couldn’t help but offer up some of our short attention span. Our enemies had briefly and spectacularly varied from the courtesy they usually show by attacking our citizens and our interests overseas.

Because the Bush Administration has ignored our whiny objections and kept us safe by wiretapping terrorists and aggressively interrogating detainees, Americans have been allowed to return to their blissful neglect of the reality of the threat.

But the threat remains, and so does this uncomfortable truth: While Al Qaeda is, by all accounts, tremendously weakened (thanks in no small measure to the fact that we lured them to Iraq and then slaughtered them there), the basic reality of radical Islam has not been altered. Al Qaeda is one structure through which radical Islam pursues its goals. If it ceases to function, other structures will rise and fill the gap. There will always be a radical element within Islam that believes the Koran commands it to kill infidels. This has been true since long before 9/11, and will be true forever.

That means the war on terror will never end. We may, for a time, delude ourselves into believing it’s better to address the problem through diplomacy and resolutions issued by feckless international organizations. But such detours from reality only last until the next time they slaughter us too blatantly to allow us to continue turning a blind eye.

At the moment, the best our enemies can do is attack our citizens abroad, as if that wasn’t bad enough. If we let our guard down or choose to indulge civil-liberties fetishists, terrorists may soon find it easier to reconstitute operational cells in our own backyard. And if we really intend to cover our eyes and ears, they may soon have friends in high places with nuclear weapons.

Are Americans prepared to face this reality – not just for a few emotion-fueled months, but forever – and get behind the measures necessary to counteract it? The guess here is no. We’re not serious people. We’ll get out of bed at 4 a.m. to save $25 on a video game console – and God help the poor bastard who’s standing in the way when the sale starts – but let the National Security Agency tap a phone line in an attempt to save our lives, and we demand an investigation.

One of the last remaining serious Americans is going into retirement on January 20. Much of America will jeer “good riddance” from their barstools, radio studios and college dorm rooms. It sure has been a drag listening to Bush try to scare us about “terrorism,” dude. Glad that’s over.

Yep. Party time! Better try to work in another round of Madden 2009, before it’s your ass getting blown to smithereens. Dude.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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