Put on “The Star Stealing Girl” from Chrono Cross and join me in a bit of reflection. It merits mention that, in the past seven years…
1. We have failed to apprehend or kill the person most responsible for the attacks. In an apology for that disgraceful failure, many of the administration’s supporters have resorted to claiming that Osama bin Laden is no longer important. It is enough to make me wonder if these people believe anything they say.
2. We lifted up Afghanistan from the clutches of right-wing religious theocracy, only to let it fade back into tribalism and Taliban theocracy due to our lack of attentiveness to the needs of the people there, our lack of understanding of their ways, our lack of real concern, and our refusal to commit enough money and manpower to make a difference.
3. We have completely destroyed a nation, Iraq, and plunged those of its people who have not yet been slaughtered into a generation of terror, poverty, civil war, religious fanaticism, and the all the most horrific sexism of Islamic law as interpreted (and enforced) by young male radicals. In return for our efforts, we have gotten more of our own people killed than died on September 11 itself, and have amassed a fiscal debt that will not be repaid in the lifetimes of many Americans living today.
4. Terrorism globally has risen and world political stability has waned, despite our nominal successes against al Qaeda in particular. America’s ability to prevent another terrorist attack on its own soil has been hindered by self-defeating policy, bureaucratic mismanagement, funding shortfalls, and a lack of real interest by the administration.
5. We have lost the best portion of our standing and our power to check adversarial nations like Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Sudan, and others.
6. Many of our quintessential American liberties, and a few essential democratic ones, have been nullified formally or for all practical purposes, in exchange for a false sense of security that will inevitably be exposed for the sham that it is, probably the hard way.
7. The American people may remember the shock of being attacked, but have learned nothing from the experience, and have long since squandered any opportunity to better themselves in the aftermath of tragedy. Since that day, we have chosen to abandon our twentieth century leadership, and the unraveling of our superpower is underway. The terrorists probably could not have hoped for much better.
George Bush and his administration deserve much of the blame for the humiliating road we have taken in the past seven years, but the fact of the matter is that we let it happen. We voted this loser into office when such a superior alternative was available. We accepted his feeble logic and supported his conspicuously wretched policies when we should have known better. We reelected him when history gave us the chance to repent. And the truth of the matter is that, for as much as we despise him, we think a lot like he does.
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