Failures in justice...failures in mercy...

I thought the best post for today might be to reexamine commentary from five years ago and I've chosen Michael Ventura's column "The 21st Century Announces Itself" as it was one of the first that I read that seemed to echo the feelings that were only then beginning to coalesce.

After the initial shock had subsided, the waves of consolation from around the globe was more than just comforting, it actually seemed for a time that some good might come from this, that the nations of the world might say “no more.” Now however, we know now that well before Ventura wrote “it remains to be seen, as I write, what America will do,” those in our government had already decided what we would do: We would use this attack by al Qaeda as grounds for imposition of repressive policies at home and a criminally misguided ill-planned policy of regime change in Iraq.

The tragedy of September 11 is not limited to the lives lost or absences created in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, nor even in the deaths that have followed as a result of the “War on Terrorism.”

Another tragedy, one of a greater scope, springs from the fact that on September 12 the concept of “The Ugly American” had been rendered almost non-existent. The goodwill and support which all but a handful of the world’s nations directed towards us was perhaps unequalled in our history. This was a gift, one borne of tragedy, but a gift nonetheless. It was our chance to complete the last step of the Cold War: to transform ourselves from the lone remaining superpower into a superleader. A chance to set the tone for a new age of growth and development. To recognize that poverty, ignorance and repression were the true breeding grounds for al Qaeda and to lead the world in eliminating the potential for future terrorists.

Instead, we chose a course of demonization, racism, tyranny and fear mongering and have now done more for terrorist recruitment than a hundred bin-Laden’s could have accomplised in a hundred years. As Scott Ritter said, al Qaeda was a hornet’s nest and we hit it with a baseball bat. Where our wealth and status might have been used to lead and inspire, we’ve chosen to control by fear, torture, intimidation, and the disregard of the most basic tenets of western law.

2,993 people died in the attacks of September 11, and when mourning them it’s important to consider that not all were Americans. As an economic center, as one of the most ethnically diverse cities on the planet and as home to the U.N. the attack on New York was an attack on the world. Yes, it was a terrible wake up call to America and brought home the reality of terrorism, but we were not unique. In fact, we were one of the last major countries in the world to have been subject to a terrorist attack from outside elements. While 9/11 may have been the day our luck ran out, we didn’t have to make it exclusively about us.

We’d be fooling ourselves to think those who died on 9/11 will be the last victims of al Qaeda within our own borders. More attacks are inevitable. But there is a difference between killing some of us and destroying the principles that our country was founded upon. Only we can do the latter, and in the course of five years we’ve done quite well.

Beyond the loss of life, we have also lost the ability to stand before the nations of the world with any shred of legitimacy as an example and freedom and justice. Instead, we are now among the nations whose governments believe pre-emptive attack is justified, who consider due process a privilege, the Geneva Conventions a matter of convenience, propaganda and fear an acceptible means for gaining public support, and who do not believe government leaders are accountable to the laws they are supposed to uphold. Of course, many will say that these principles fell by the wayside long ago, and they’re partially right. It would be naïve to think that our image has not become tarnished over time. Nevertheless, there has never been an administration which has held these principles (and their adherents) in such disregard and with such contempt.

How we responded to the 21st Century's "announcement of itself" would define our future. Our actions in the subsequent years strongly indicates that al Qaeda doesn’t need to attack us again. We’ve already lost and are no different than those we once considered our worst enemies.

Where once we found strength in knowing that we had nothing to fear but fear itself, we now have nothing to fear but ourselves.