Day of Infamy

60 years before 9/11, there was the sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor on this date in 1941. It was the event launched the US into the war that was already raging in Europe and Asia. The enemy powers were nation states with uniformed armies, territorial ambitions and nationalistic missions. It was the defining and unifying moment in the lives and minds of many Americans who were alive at the time. Every thing was suddenly changed, just as the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City has impacted the lives and thoughts of all of us who are alive today. That event forced us all to stop in our tracks, to realize that we had more to worry about than the rising costs of health care or how to maximise the return on our IRA accounts.

Yesterday, during our weekly Tea (these days we actually drink tea instead of beer), my friend George lamented that we are not unified as a nation the way we were in WW2. The topic under discussion was the announcement of the findngs by the Iraq Study group that we need to do something differently in Iraq. Even if you are a Bush hater, you cannot feel happy about the fact that we are in yet another nasty mess - one that we will always look back upon as a huge mistake.

Sixty five years ago we had a clear enemy. Every family in the USA was personally touched by the war because sons, fathers, brothers and uncles went off to fight. Today, hardly any of us know someone who is stationed in Iraq. Hardly any of our political leaders have a relative in harm's way.

As painful as it is for us to watch the casualty numbers of Americans on the evening news, we cannot help but compare the staggering cost of past wars compared to Iraq. Most of the current deaths are civilians, in a culture that does not seem to value human life.

I wish I could propose a solution to this mess. We cannot pull-out without leaving a power vacuum that would almost certainly make the situation and US security worse that when Saddam was in power. We cannot stay and remain the magnet for world acrimony.

I only hope future leaders will learn from this situation. Democracy cannot be imposed on people who do not value individual freedom and do not recognize the rights of people who believe differently.

Well, enough of this -- who has their Christmas shopping done?