Next week is the 7th anniversary of 9/11. The Republicans will be claiming Bush has stopped further attacks. Don't let them get away with it.
Bush has not protected us. See my analysis of why they have not tried to attack us again.
Comments appreciated.
Why haven't we been attacked since 9/11?
As we approach the 7th anniversary of 9/11, some are asking "Why haven’t they attacked us again?" It s a good question. For the most part, the answers we hear are more political propaganda than objective analysis.
Caught been asleep at the wheel in 2001, the Bush administration claims they are now alert and their policies of spying, preemptive war, and torture have made us safer. But that is questionable. Numerous tests, by our government itself, find it is still easy to smuggle weapons and bombs onto our commercial aircraft. Similarly, our ports check only a small percentage of cargo coming into this country. There have been few improvements in protecting our chemical plants or water supplies. If al Qaeda was serious about attacking us on our soil, they could.
So, why haven’t they attacked us?
Looking at the question from al Qaeda's perspective, gives us additional insight. From their perspective, the first attack accomplished it’s purpose. Additional attacks would be counterproductive.
Most Americans have a difficult time viewing the world from any perspective other than their narrow ethnocentric view. For the past 6 years I've asked my students, "Why did bin Laden claim he signed off on the 9/11 attack?" Of the hundreds of students I've had during these years, only one student knew the answer.
After the Gulf War, bin Laden demanded we remove our military troops from Saudi Arabia. Finally in early 1998, bin Laden issued a fatwa calling for attacks on America interests around the planet. Their attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and on the U.S.S. Cole were in response to bin Laden's call for action.
Their ultimate attack came on September 11, 2001.
This time America took notice. We attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan who had sheltered al Qaeda. Relying on faked documents and distorted intelligence reports, Bush unleashed our military on the people of Iraq. But very quietly and behind the scenes, Bush capitulated to bin Laden's demands and removed our troops from Saudi Arabia.
"Mission Accomplished!" for bin Laden.
Looking at the situation from bin Laden's perspective, a second attack on America soil would make no sense. It would, in fact, be counterproductive. Immediately following 9/11, the world was united with us against al Qaeda. Even countries like Iran cooperated with our intelligence agencies. It was only after Bush’s ruthless and unprovoked attack on Iraq that the world community turned against us.
Another attack on U.S. soil would most likely reinvigorate sympathy for the U.S. Furthermore, a second attack could turn some of bin Laden's religious fundamentalist supporters against him. Since Bush had given into bin Laden's demands to remove U.S. troop from Saudi Arabia, another attack would mean bin Laden was going back on his word. As the saying goes, "There is honor among thieves (terrorists)."
With our troops in Iraq, bin Laden has us where he wants us. It is far easier to kill Western and American troops in the Middle East than on their own soil. To date nearly 5,000 coalition forces have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, with most being Americans..
Bin Laden and al Qaeda know they will not defeat us militarily. Their strategy is to defeat us economically. It isn’t cheap to fund and supply an army half way around the planet. It is costing us $9,000,000,000 per month to fund Bush’s war on Iraq.
Our national debt is at an all time high. The value of our dollars have dropped. Americans are losing their jobs and their homes. Fuel costs are hurting even the middle class.
The $9 billion monthly cost and 5,000 coalition deaths are but the tip of the ice berg. We have over 30,000 soldiers with physical injuries. Many have lost limbs, sight, and/or hearing. Over 100,000 U.S. soldiers suffer various levels of brain injuries. The costs of these injuries has already lead to VA hospital scandals and cutbacks in medical care for our returning soldiers. These costs will not end when the troops come home.
Then there are the indirect costs to our military families. They suffer exceptionally high rates of divorce, suicide, and financial ruin. Both Republicans and Democrats have lost confidence in our leaders who got us into this mess. As Americans become more disillusioned with the war and feel its impact in their daily lives, the Taliban and al Qaeda gain strength.
Early on, our forces decimated the Taliban and al Qaeda. Had Bush not redirected our forces to Iraq, these movements might have been permanently dismantled. Serious mistakes managing our occupation has strengthened the Taliban and al Qaeda.
While the Sunni awakening, Sadr’s truce, and the surge have reduced the violence in Iraq to early 2003 levels, we are far from a "victory" in Iraq. Afghanistan and Iraq will not turn out like our post World War II occupations of Germany and Japan. Collateral damage, as the military likes to call it, has resulted in over a million innocent Iraqi deaths and another 4 million homeless.
This is no way to win friends. These mistakes have cost us dearly. The Taliban regrouped and is now as strong, if not stronger, than it was pre 9/11. Al Qaeda has no shortage of volunteers eager to inflict revenge on American who killed their relatives and destroyed their homes.
Al Qaeda has not attacked us on our soil since 9/11 because we forfeited our civil liberties. Spying on America citizens, abandoning habeas corpus, and waterboarding have not prevented further attacks.
From bin Laden's view, 9/11 got our troops out of Saudi Arabia. Bush eliminated his arch enemy Saddam Hussein. Our military is depleted and over extended. We are experiencing the most serious financial collapse since the Great Depression. Bin Laden has us right were he wants us. Why mess it up with another attack on U.S. soil?