September 11th and Beyond: The Bird's Eye View

As large as today's commemoration of the September 11th attack is, you can imagine how much larger it'll be on the tenth anniversary next year. The attack triggered the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also prompts today my "I told you so." Not that anyone listens to me---well, my parrot, Holy Ghost, does and occasionally the little woman. Nine years ago I muttered, "No, no, not another land invasion of Asian countries. Saddam Hussein is being adequately supervised by U.S. air and naval power. Haven't we learned from Korea and Vietnam? Ten or more years from now, we'll still have thousands of troops in Iraq (and Afghanistan). Thousands of American soldiers will be killed and tens of thousands will be maimed for life, and billions of dollars will have been spent. And if the military draft isn't reinstated, we'll see little public protest in the U.S. against these invasions. Then after at least a decade in those foreign countries, things will 'end' in a draw at best. We'll leave, then all of the local interethnic and interreligious and political rivalries will return to their standard of normal. Of course, not a single neighboring country in that region will have lifted a finger to help the U.S., and even most of those we 'helped' eventually will turn on us. Even the Vatican and the U.S. bishops are urging the U.S. not to invade, but watch, after American soldiers have been placed there, the bishops will mute their opposition to these wars."

I wish we had then and will have in the future a U.S. President and backers who will have the courage and wisdom to keep land soldiers the hell out of countries, unless American citizens or significant American property are harmed or are in serious and immediate danger. I wish our leaders will spend those trillions of dollars on increasing U.S. air and naval power around the world and in improving our vital systems of intelligence and security in our homeland. Then announce to the world that any attack on the U.S. by another nation will be answered by devastating and sustained air (and naval) power. Possible attacks by rogue, terrorist groups will simply have to be intercepted beforehand by improved intelligence and security tactics. If terrorist groups can be hit by air in their home region, let it be that (witness the increasing success of air-drone attacks in Afghanistan now), but let us stop ordering Americans to die and be damaged in antiquated land battles. And, lastly, let us think twice before we convince ourselves that our military and our U.S. citizens have the duty to do "nation building" in foreign lands.

My other wish is that one or two decades from now, most of the U.S. military personnel and their families will not have the misfortune of looking back and concluding that their sacrifices were in vain.

Now we have the controversy over the proposed new Islamic mosque near the World Trade Center in New York City. In light of the history of harsh anti-Catholicism and anti-Semitism in the U.S., where oh where is the united voice of the American Catholic bishops in defending the religious liberty of American Muslims?

Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it---unless, of course, I hear otherwise from Holy Ghost.