Living In A New World?

The world is not drastically different since September 11, 2001. Of course, the scale of violence between the United States and Islamic fundamentalists has increased and there have been a few other differences, but for the most part, our violent interactions with militant Islamists has simply continued. Let me take you back to 1998.

Every year I write a list before New Year's Day (your New Year's Day) on the top ten good and bad things that happened in the previous year. The list may be personal, political, or whatever I'm feeling. I wrote the number one bad thing of 1998 this way...

President Clinton was impeached. The U.S. also bombed Iraq. There is not a safe feeling in the U.S.
12/31/98

I was 16 years old when I wrote that. It appears as if it could have been written anytime since 2003, but in actuality this unsafe feeling existed in the country before September, 2001. The United States' bombing of Iraq was simply another in a long line of violence between the two nations since the Gulf War, when the alliance between the two was broken. The U.S. also bombed Afghanistan in 1998 in retaliation for the attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Now, let's assume that I am not now nor have I ever been a prophet. As a 16 year-old, I did not have a greater grasp of the geo-political outlook that the average American. Believe me, as a 16 year-old I was still jerking off to re-runs of Saved By The Bell. Instead my comments were simply reflecting the feelings of the country.

There have been retaliatory attacks from both the U.S. and the Islamists for several decades. The names and faces have changed, particularly the Islamists (some have "switched sides" although it would be more accurate to say that the U.S. perception of these groups/individuals has shifted), but this is still a complex linear struggle. One in which there has always been danger for American citizens. We should not live with an increased sense of fear.