September 11 should be a day of national reflection

It’s been 2,556 days - seven years - since Sept. 11, 2001, when our lives took a decidedly different and unfortunate turn. It was a day that changed the way we live and the way we regard what happens inside and outside our nation’s borders. That was the day the United States was caught napping on what the present generation might legitimately regard as a latter-day version of Dec. 7, 1941, when invaders sucker-punched the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. If we had believed we were invulnerable to outside attack, that clear morning in New York Cityerased all such doubt. Since those dark days, the U.S. has sought to prosecute a “global war on terror” with varying degrees of success.

Shortly after hijacked jetliners smashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers and into the Pentagon, with a fourth plane plunging to the ground in Pennsylvania, U.S. forces identified the instigator of the attacks that killed some 3,000 people as a bearded Muslim fanatic from

Saudi Arabia named Osama bin Laden. He headed a rapidly growing terrorist organization called al-Qaida. His base of operations was in Afghanistan, where the United States has been waging a less-than-successful ground and air war against his forces and its Taliban supporters, a fundamentalist Islamic militia which in 1995 tookover Afghanistan and established an ultra-Islamic government.

The United States quickly shifted its priorities, however, redirecting the wartime effort toward Iraq. This war’s stated purposes, first to remove Iraq’s despotic leader, Saddam Hussein, and later to establish ademocratic Arabic republic in the Middle East, has changed frequently -changes that in many cases were dictated by political necessity to ensure the U.S. public the war was necessary to accomplish important national goals. And the toll has been steep: More than 4,100 American service members have died and tens of thousands have been badly wounded.

In Iraq, the population has suffered casualties estimated in the hundreds of thousands. There are encouraging signs, however, that some notable successes have been accomplished. The Bush administration announced this week it it will pull some 8,000 troops from Iraq near theend of the year, but will leave further troop withdrawal to the incoming president’s administration next year.

This seventh anniversary, it’s fitting we consider where we are now, and, equally important, where we are going. While bin Laden remains free, possibly hiding in the sparsely populated hinterlands of Pakistan, the United States has not fallen prey to new attacks. U.S. authorities point out that steps taken to enhance national security and identify terrorist efforts have been successful, and that plots to inflict internal damage have been thwarted by the country’s vigilance. While there is no hard-and-fast guarantee of tomorrow’s safety, this heightened security clearly appears to be a key reason the U.S. has not fallen victim to additional assaults.

The existing stalemate carries a high price, though, one that has chipped away at personal liberty and brought about restrictions in the way citizens do many things, from flying on commercial aircraft to travel outside the United States. Following 9/11, Congress enacted the

Patriot Act, a measure intended to clear obstacles to investigation into suspected terrorist activity but which also opened doors permitting government invasion of privacy and an abrogation of various civil rights. Torture of prisoners, with the approval of the White House, was acceptable, and incarceration of prisoners who were denied legal recourse is government procedure. It’s far easier now for Big Brother to keep tabs on what we do, say or read.

All in all, however, we would be remiss not to acknowledge that in today’s complex world it is difficult to know the best way to proceed. America - as well as its allies - faces a determined enemy that is not only difficult to identify but that has demonstrated a willingness to stop at nothing to achieve its goals; its agents routinely pledge their lives to advance an agenda alien to most civilized people. If America is to persevere, we must accept that there will be differences of opinion as to how to move forward. Two things, though, should be obligatory: We should strive to understand the circumstances that led our country to this juncture, and we must present a united front to those who wouldkill us.

In the United States, “Patriot Day” has arrived every September 11 for the last seven years. This has been the case since Oct. 25, 2001, when the House of Representatives unanimously approved Joint Resolution 71,authorizing the president to designate September 11 as “Patriot Day,” a discretionary day of remembrance. President Bush has done so, and we expect his successor, whoever that might be, may do so as well.

So today, give some consideration to the challenges we’ve faced and the challenges ahead, and what we might be able to do to make the burden less difficult.

Phil Dodson/for the Editorial Board, Macon.com

from https://www.macon.com/203/story/460239.html