I needed to hear/read something other than the rhetoric on t.v. and in the
mainstream press. This is something I found that I think every U.S. citizen
should consider because I am afraid of what the U.S. government and
military's response will be and what affect that will have...
well for what it's worth, here's the article:
http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/
Mario Cuomo's reasoned response: "This is not like Pearl Harbor" September
12 @ 1:27pm
COLUMN
WASHINGTON -- I have not seen with my own eyes the wreckage of the World
Trade Center in New York, but I have seen the damage to the Pentagon. And I
can say with certainty that television does not begin to provide a full
sense of the devastation.
This is a horrific moment in American history, and it is a moment that has
not ended. As I write, firefighters battle flames that continue to claim
portions of the Pentagon, and that continue to produce clouds of smoke that
can be seen from locations throughout Washington.
In such a circumstance, hyperbole becomes commonplace. At its most extreme,
the current hyperbole has taken the form of comparisons of this crisis with
the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941. The comparisons say less about
the reality of what has occurred than they do about the lack of credible
reference points.
Yet, as newspaper headlines echo Franklin Delano Roosevents language of
1941 ("Infamy!" declares the front page of today's Washington Times
newspaper) and as politicians recall the pre-orld War II rhetoric ("This is
not a time to bring people to justice, this is a time to wage war," U.S.
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., told the Senate), reasonable analysis is hard to
come by.
All the more of a blessing, then, is the wisdom of Mario Cuomo.
The former governor of New York has been speaking necessary truths in the
aftermath of Tuesdays terrorist attack on his hometown of New York City,
counseling against the rush to rhetorical excess that has become such a
common characteristic of contemporary tragedy.
"People analogize to Pearl Harbor," Cuomo said, his voice filled with
disapproval. "This is not like Pearl Harbor because with Pearl Harbor we
knew the enemy."
There was no question on December 7, 1941, that the attack had been launched
by a foreign government, Japan. And there was no question, as Roosevelt's
immediate action in response to the attack illustrated, that America knew
precisely where to direct its anger. "We could say, 'Here we go,'" explained
Cuomo.
Today, argues the veteran lawyer and commentator on ethical issues, we have
no such certainty. Perhaps there is a connection to Saudi fugitive Osama bin
Laden, who previously was linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade
Center, Cuomo said. Perhaps that connection will be established firmly at
some point in the near future. When it is, Cuomo continued, there will be a
place for action.
But at this point the connection has not been made, he explained, and the
danger of leaping to "certain" judgements and the even more certain actions
that follow upon them, is too great. Cuomo warned that, to succumb to the
desire for a satisfying but not necessarily just or effective retribution
is, itself, un-American.
Rather than make this moment out as a Pearl Harbor sixty years on, Cuomo
says, Americas leaders need to rededicate themselves not only to
identifying those responsible for the current terrorism but also to
determining why terrorism seems to have become so commonplace. Developing
realistic anti-terrorist responses is a matter of will, Cuomo says, and that
will has been in short supply. "We haven't done it. Why? We didn't choose
to," Cuomo said, referring to the failure of the U.S. government to counter
terrorist threats by addressing an array of concerns -- from airport
security to energy conservation.
In addition to responding to the horrific tragedy of this moment, Cuomo said
,America must move to counter the ongoing "quiet tragedies" of poverty,
inadequate health care and other unmet basic needs around the world.
That response to human need, Cuomo says, is a vital tool in any realistic
struggle against terrorism, since denial and disenfranchisement can breed
terrorism.
Ultimately, Cuomo is arguing, America must move beyond simplistic responses
to a wiser, more realistic approach to terrorism. And that means, in
particular, that the United States must avoid any rush to limit the basic
rights of citizens.
"There are allowances you can give government without losing your vital
freedoms," argued Cuomo, who said it is wholly possible to increase security
-- with somewhat longer delays at airports and other shifts in routine --
while protecting Constitutional rights.
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