tp182.xml
Title
tp182.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-03-03
TomPaine Story: Story
I no longer feel safe. And our government seems to be doing everything it can to make this country as widely and fiercely hated as possible. The debate over global politics, the environment, and the bombing of other countries is not just about others' misery, owl species, or the world of our great-grandchildren anymore. It's about the safety of this country today or next week, and about whether magnanimity or machismo is the best course to ensure that safety.
For certain war- and cold-war-promoters every country we've attacked for decades has been attacked to protect this country, but I never believed that justification or felt that threat. Now the Pentagon has been attacked, and the people left inside it seem intent on amplifying the policies that seem most likely to lead to more attacks. Now I feel the threat, but believe that the justification for attacking other countries is more misguided than ever.
The President believes that the route to safety and honor is to search out any slight, take great offense at it, and react with overwhelming fury and power. In the case of Iraq, the desired slight may have to be manufactured, in the form of an allegation of aid to Bin Laden. If that doesn't work, the offense may be the possession of weapons that the United States also possesses. If that doesn't stick, we'll just bomb Iraqis for their own good, out of humanitarian concern.
Our own safety finally really is at stake, but acting out the same fear-driven panic and chest-pounding as usual will make us part of the problem.. Bombing Iraq and putting weapons in space won't stop box-cutters. Bombs won't scare off suicide killers. Now that we're all scared, let's talk a little about what course of action might actually make us safer.
For certain war- and cold-war-promoters every country we've attacked for decades has been attacked to protect this country, but I never believed that justification or felt that threat. Now the Pentagon has been attacked, and the people left inside it seem intent on amplifying the policies that seem most likely to lead to more attacks. Now I feel the threat, but believe that the justification for attacking other countries is more misguided than ever.
The President believes that the route to safety and honor is to search out any slight, take great offense at it, and react with overwhelming fury and power. In the case of Iraq, the desired slight may have to be manufactured, in the form of an allegation of aid to Bin Laden. If that doesn't work, the offense may be the possession of weapons that the United States also possesses. If that doesn't stick, we'll just bomb Iraqis for their own good, out of humanitarian concern.
Our own safety finally really is at stake, but acting out the same fear-driven panic and chest-pounding as usual will make us part of the problem.. Bombing Iraq and putting weapons in space won't stop box-cutters. Bombs won't scare off suicide killers. Now that we're all scared, let's talk a little about what course of action might actually make us safer.
Collection
Citation
“tp182.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/710.