31 May 2008
Has the President Has Kept Us Safe?
Thane Rosenbaum doesn’t give the American public any credit for learning a lesson from the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001. In his OpEd in the May 30, 2008, Wall Street Journal, he congratulates President Bush for keeping us all safe for the past near seven years. What he doesn’t recognize is that the changes in our behavior while “waiting for terrorism’s second shoe to drop” may have been the real deterrent to a repeat of the horrific suicide airplane hijackings.
Our airport and airplane security tightened up. Our border security became more mission-oriented. Even passengers on our subways, buses and railways took to heart slogans like that on the New York MTA, “If you see something, say something.” The same behavior changes have, no doubt, occurred in other countries that have suffered terrorist attacks since 9/11, obviating repeat attacks in England and Spain, for example.
What is sure is that a liberal administration in Washington, respectful of civil liberties, would also have been congratulated by Mr. Rosenbaum for the safety from terrorism that is mainly attributable to a more vigilant public. The public is a lot more intelligent and adaptable than he gives them credit for. And, they may have achieved the same results without jeopardizing the lifeblood of our soldiers and of Iraqis, or the financial health and civil rights of our country.
Thane Rosenbaum doesn’t give the American public any credit for learning a lesson from the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001. In his OpEd in the May 30, 2008, Wall Street Journal, he congratulates President Bush for keeping us all safe for the past near seven years. What he doesn’t recognize is that the changes in our behavior while “waiting for terrorism’s second shoe to drop” may have been the real deterrent to a repeat of the horrific suicide airplane hijackings.
Our airport and airplane security tightened up. Our border security became more mission-oriented. Even passengers on our subways, buses and railways took to heart slogans like that on the New York MTA, “If you see something, say something.” The same behavior changes have, no doubt, occurred in other countries that have suffered terrorist attacks since 9/11, obviating repeat attacks in England and Spain, for example.
What is sure is that a liberal administration in Washington, respectful of civil liberties, would also have been congratulated by Mr. Rosenbaum for the safety from terrorism that is mainly attributable to a more vigilant public. The public is a lot more intelligent and adaptable than he gives them credit for. And, they may have achieved the same results without jeopardizing the lifeblood of our soldiers and of Iraqis, or the financial health and civil rights of our country.
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