Self-inflicted wounds (We've done more damage than 9/11 hijackers)

[RamboLiberal]

Want to note this writer is a former U.S. ambassador.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06256/721230-108.stm

Reflecting on what 9/11 has done to the United States, particularly to the quality of life of Americans, the question becomes, which was worse, the killing of 3,000 of us in the attack, or the reaction the attack has provoked among us in terms of what we have done since it occurred?

The adjunct question is then, what did the attackers seek to do? The image is perhaps one of a beehive. Kick the side of it and put a hole in it. That's damage. But then the bees go crazy and attack each other in the hive and every other living thing in sight around the hive. That might be worse.

I come out of that with the assessment that the attackers wanted to kick the hive, causing damage, but were not smart enough or knowledgeable enough about the United States to be able to anticipate what Americans would do in response.

That makes Americans themselves basically responsible for what has happened since 9/11. One old bromide is that it's not what happens to you, it's how you let it affect you that counts. So what has happened?

[neoblues]

1. We definitely could benefit from a little restraint...

As the British respond to terrorism with a more 'stoic' attitude, we could benefit from a little emulation of them.

In one way, if the leaders behind the terrorism are rational, perhaps our bombastic, unpredictable and blindly violent response has indeed given them pause. After all, if they provoke the insane giant severely enough, it just might cut loose and destroy the whole world. Though I doubt that this has anything to do with reality.

Of course, our response was also an incredible gift to those same terrorists and ensured their future... but it may be that they've decided to just take their time and let us exhaust ourselves--no need to provoke again us while we continue hurting ourselves from the last time. Sure enough, the wise course would be to quietly prepare to hurt us again once the previous attack's effects wear thin. Just wait... time is on their side.

[Skittles]

2. what's this WE shit

try bush and the idiots who supported his incompetent ass

[mcscajun]

3. Here's where he hit the nail on the head...

The Bush administration is going to say in the upcoming electoral campaign that all of these things it has done, all of the grotesque transformations of American society it has brought about, have made us safer, and that they are responsible for the fact that we haven't had another 9/11 in the United States.

Even another attack on us wouldn't prove that isn't true, which is what makes it such a great campaign line, even if it isn't actually true. I, for one, do not think it is true. I think that the rich breeding ground for terrorists that the Iraq war has become merely means that they are waiting for the right moment before coming after us again.

And that last line is what I most fervently believe.

[indepat]

4. Implementation of the PNAC agenda has caused many, many times the deaths,

and dozens of times the economic damage caused by 9-11, or so it could be argued convincingly, all self-inflicted by a Congress willing to largely abrogate its authority, purse strings, and war declaration authority to one man, a MSM that has generally failed to keep the people informed, in fact acted as a propaganda organ for the administration, and tens of millions of true-believers who march to the beat of their drummer, no matter how disastrous the obvious consequences of actions and policies.

[The Traveler]

5. I think he is quite right

I have been of that opinion for a long time ... our self inflicted wounds have done far more damage to the health of the nation than the attack itself. Perhaps the nation will learn something from this experience.

[gulliver]

6. Bush was the catalyst for our post-9/11 losses.

If we had a real leader, we would have weathered the blow and would now be richer for it. Bush and his robotic followers in the GOP Congress compounded the damage of 9/11 far, far beyond Osama Bin Laden's wildest dreams.

[samsingh]

7. bush was the wrong man for the job

[mwb970]

8. bush is the wrong man for *any* job. /nt

[samsingh]

10. except if the job is to screw things up and be totally awful

[CJCRANE]

9. Bush is part of the problem

unfortunately.

The neocons do not work for American interests either domestically or internationally.
They only work for their own interests and that of their "allies".