Fear destroys what Bin Laden could not

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat net>
Date: December 26, 2005 3:38:01 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: For IP: Fear destroys what Bin Laden could not

Fear destroys what Bin Laden could not

By Rober Steinback

Fear destroys what bin Laden could not
ROBERT STEINBACK
rsteinback () MiamiHerald com

One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the  
America that existed on 9/11. But he had help.

If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin  
Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law  
against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then  
expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have  
presumed the girders of our very Republic had crumbled.

Had anyone said our president would invade a country and kill 30,000  
of its people claiming a threat that never, in fact, existed, then  
admit he would have invaded even if he had known there was no threat  
-- and expect America to be pleased by this -- I would have thought  
our nation's sensibilities and honor had been eviscerated.

If I had been informed that our nation's leaders would embrace  
torture as a legitimate tool of warfare, hold prisoners for years  
without charges and operate secret prisons overseas -- and call such  
procedures necessary for the nation's security -- I would have  
laughed at the folly of protecting human rights by destroying them.

If someone had predicted the president's staff would out a CIA agent  
as revenge against a critic, defy a law against domestic propaganda  
by bankrolling supposedly independent journalists and commentators,  
and ridicule a 37-year Marie Corps veteran for questioning U.S.  
military policy -- and that the populace would be more interested in  
whether Angelina is about to make Brad a daddy -- I would have called  
the prediction an absurd fantasy.

That's no America I know, I would have argued. We're too strong, and  
we've been through too much, to be led down such a twisted path.

What is there to say now?

All of these things have happened. And yet a large portion of this  
country appears more concerned that saying ''Happy Holidays'' could  
be a disguised attack on Christianity.

More at  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/ 
13487511.htm


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