Perhaps someone should read the names of our thousands of military dead and wounded who have been sent to avenge “terrorism.
Those responsible for funding 9/11 – the Saudi Royal family – are still treated as allies. The Saudis extended the violence in Iraq – without any political consequences – by encouraging their sons to fight with Al Qaeda and kill our own troops. We looked the other way when Saudi Arabia sent its extreme fighters into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah. The removal of Saddam Hussein empowered Iran. We have contributed to proxy wars among terrorists that rage on among people who have very little.
Now in the final months of Bush’s tenure, the CIA and Pentagon have been ordered to use everything at their disposal to get bin Laden and his cohorts. This effort to salvage a legacy is being done at the further expense of America’s already damaged reputation and proven ineffectiveness at going after those who go after us.
A way of remembering all those lost is for Americans to think about who we are. We need to look beyond our inadequate political and military leadership and remember that this is a nation of laws and due process. For those who scoff at that notion as weak, take a look at the wreckage of our moral standing in the world. It has happened to us before; it always happens when we are afraid.
We are a nation that needs to, as Lincoln said, “bind up our wounds” and fix what we did not get right. We shouldn’t torture and the only way we will win the war against terrorists is to offer those without hope something more from the United States than bombs from the sky and water boarding.
America’s best defense has always been the simple ability to speak the truth. Maybe we need to think of the last seven years in the total context of America’s amazing history to understand what we can offer the world. The best tribute to those we lost on and since 9/11 is not vengeance but remembering that what makes us a great country is that we are a good and decent people who can recognize our faults and fix them.
The terrifying image of an American Predator drone hunting down all in its path is not a fitting memorial for the thousands we have lost. An image of Abraham Lincoln – shot this morning at sunrise – is a better reminder to rest of the world of who we are and what we aspire to be.
