The 9/10 mindset: Of Knaves and Fools

Some folks view 9/11 as though it isn't a big issue, or that it was "a while ago", and act as though it should be a historical relic. Writers like E.J. Dionne, who's a well known liberal writer for the Washington Post, wants us to leave 9/11 behind. But, as the Wall Street Journal points out, he goes too far in his comments:

"After we honor the 10th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we need to leave the day behind," Dionne writes. "Al-Qaeda is a dangerous enemy. But our country and the world were never threatened by the caliphate of its mad fantasies." (emphasis mine)

So let me get this straight, Mr. Dionne. The attempt by Al Qaeda to kill more than 3,000 Americans on 9/11 and attempt a decapitation strike on our political and military leadership (which was largely forestalled by the heroic work of first responders) wasn't an indication of it's capabilities? Sure, they were mad. Sure, they had fantastical views of the endgame result for themselves. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't try to attempt it, or that hundreds of thousands of lives wouldn't have been lost in the process.


This is the fallacy of thinkers like Dionne, who take the hindsight viewpoint and try to make a presentist argument out of it. We're hearing reports of another major attempt on the United States (or elsewhere) right now (Check these links out). Does that sound like "never threatened?" to you, Mr. Dionne? The only reason they haven't hit the United States again is because we actively fought them on battlefields of our choosing, with enhanced tactics and technology at our disposal. Not because they "were mad fantasies", but because we made sure they didn't get another chance.

In the end, the Wall Street Journal is right that Dionne's real point is

"[that] his own ideological reasons for promoting complacency about the threat of Islamist terrorism. He disapproves of the "vaguely defined 'war on terrorism' " because he regards it as a "detour" from what's really important: "American strength always depends first on our strength at home--on a vibrant, innovative and sensibly regulated economy, on levelheaded fiscal policies, on the ability of our citizens to find useful work, on the justice of our social arrangements."

So, in conclusion: Dionne's self serving rhetoric about 9/11 speaks volumes, and history will damn the voices of those who chose to play partisan politics in such a sneering fashion. The ghosts of 9/11 don't matter for people like Dionne, who are too busy ascending the Righteous! Path! Of! Progress! That path is littered with the laments of those who were ignored, all because Dionne and his ilk are chasing after a political "theory" that they want to be proven right, at all costs. Forget 9/11, indeed. We must hail the progressive world, even as it was shattered on a bright and blue morning on September 11th, 2001, at 8:48 AM.