STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

Posted on | by Ed

Since absolute security is unobtainable (except at an unacceptable cost in terms of individual rights) it is inevitable that the United States will be the target of another terrorist attack at some point in the future.

It may be tomorrow, or it may be thirty years from now. It is bound to happen. When it does, there will be two very happy groups of people: Islamic fundamentalists and American neoconservatives.

I'm starting to get downright alarmed at the eagerness with which these people are begging for more terrorist attacks to validate their idiotic worldview. They just can't wait. They're likely on their knees praying for it on a nightly basis. It's both alarming and, in a twisted way, impressive to see people so committed to an ideology that they're willing to pay for its validation with American blood. To wit:

  • 1. Rick Santorum engages in some pre-emptive (they like to do everything pre-emptively, don't they?) gloating about how a major terrorist attack in the next year will cause a massive reversal of public opinion on the war. Ex-Senator Want-to-See-Pics-of-my-Stillborn says:

    "[C]onfronting Iran in the Middle East as an absolute linchpin for our success in that region … between now and November, a lot of things are going to happen, and I believe that by this time next year, the American public's going to have a very different view of this war, and it will be because, I think, of some unfortunate events, that like we're seeing unfold in the UK."

    Gee Rick, either you know something we don't or you're actually excited about this "big chance" to prove that you were right all along.

  • 2. Michael Chertoff spoke to the Chicago Tribune abd practically salivated at the prospect of more domestic attacks. He went above and beyond the usual right-wing fearmongering, though. He predicted more attacks in the near future based on "a gut feeling." A gut feeling. It's bad enough that Homeland Security made a mockery of its own "threat level" indicator by issuing one warning after another based on "chatter" or "non-specific but credible" threats. Now we've been reduced to trying to panic the public with predictions based on "gut feelings" of incompetent public officials. It makes chatter seem like red-handed proof in comparison.

  • 3. A Republican Party state chairman is quoted as saying:

    "At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. 11, 2001]," Milligan said to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "and the naysayers will come around very quickly to appreciate not only the commitment for President Bush, but the sacrifice that has been made by men and women to protect this country." (emphasis added)

    It's good to have one's priorities in order. The first order of business is to personally vindicate George Bush. Let's hurry up and have a few thousand additional Americans killed in a terror attack…..so people will stop denigrating our Dear Leader. It's an awfully convenient thing for the chair of the Arkansas GOP to want given that there is nothing in Arkansas worthy of being attacked by terrorists (sorry, Al Qaeda does not focus on mineral baths and Wal-Mart's home office). So his calculus is simple: some big city people die – hey, no big loss! – and he gets a talking point.

  • 4. From back in 2005, when the GOP was desperately looking for ways to salvage the bloodbath that it knew was coming in the midterms: a leaked memo in which party strategists outline potential good-news scenarios. Included (alongside such gems as "drastic turnaround in the economy" that they swore was going like gangbusters) is a massive terror attack on American soil, which would boost Bush's fortunes and "restore his image as a leader of the American people." The attack would "validate" the war on terror and allow Bush to "unite the country" in a "time of national shock and sorrow.
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  • 5. Another one from the history files.

    Back in the summer of 2001 the PNAC stated (in one of its endless "policy papers" about the glories of American imperialism) that, lamentably, their grand agenda was unlikely to translate into policy "absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event–like a new Pearl Harbor." Well thank God you kids got what you wanted. Without Pearl Harbor II just think of what would have happened to that cute little report these boys typed up.

    Terrorism isn't going away anytime soon, and I bet it's going to be really hard for some of these people to feign sorrow when next it happens here.

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    • 5 thoughts on “STRANGE BEDFELLOWS”

    • Chris says:

      I'm stuck with my dad for the summer, and all he ever does is watch Fox News. I think I'm losing my mind. Seriously, everything on that channel is related to terrorism. They actually believe everything is related to terrorism, and have the fear mongering going 24-7. Conservatives probably do want another terrorist act to happen. It is a really sick obsession, and they are oblivious to anything else going on in, well, reality. Their one issue has become stale as hell.

      Also, you should hear my dad rationalize Iraq. It is quite a process, simply stunning, and has no logic at all.

    • Scott says:

      "We need a terrorist attack at home in order to have the public rally around the president, so we can continue the war in Iraq – attacking the terrorists there so we don't have to deal with them at home."

      Logically, I'm not sure how neocons can expect both.

    • Peggy says:

      Scott, see "Argumentum ad FoxWorld." I'm pretty sure that they've got Doublethink down. Because (if?) they're fighting us over here, we're fighting us over there so that we don't have to fight them over here. Except that they did/aren't. Perfectly straightforward!

    • Rick says:

      It's amazing some of the shit that people say and can get away with. "If something horrible happens, then we're back in power." Disgusting.

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