Musings 88--Four more years to go...

As I listen to the debate about the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq, I keep hearing well-meaning zealots refer to the fact that it is better to fight them over there than over here. Well, there are a couple of points I wish to make about that.

Point One: We were not fighting them here when they blew up the twin towers. They brought down the towers, but there was no one to fight here. The terrorists blew themselves up and there was not an army of bad guys walking around New York City that we had to fight. Basically, there was not much difference, other than the number of dead, between the twin towers bombing and what happened in Oklahoma City--and that one was home grown.

Point Two: We blew away most of Bin Laden's troops in Afghanistan. He is, by most accounts, hiding in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. President said that we should hunt down Osama and his boys and kill them. Well, he is still hidden in those mountains.

I also hear true-believers saying that we must be doing something right because we have not been hit again since 9/11. Why, that was four years ago! Yep, it sure was, but don't forget the history of the radical muslims. We tend to have short memories--they, on the other hand, do not.

In 1993 the twin towers were bombed from the basement parking lot by radical muslims. They did not bring down the towers, but they tried. It was not until eight years later, 2001, that they tried again and succeeded. By looking at history...are we safe for four more years?

In 1993 and until 2002 we did not have a Department of Homeland Security, and we went eight years without another bombing on American soil. These guys, if nothing else, are patient. Don't you now feel lots safer...I thought not.