Posted by
Amicus on Monday, September 11, 2006 3:04:01 AM
Recently I watched a Jon Stewart /Christopher Hitchens discussion on The Daily Show. One about whether or not the U.S. should have invaded Iraq (This post is not about that, but about something revealed during the discussion).
Hitchens noted that on October 31, 1998, (the day Iraq ceased any and all cooperation with UNSCOM) President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act (passed 98-0 in the Senate), which declared that "[i]t should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."
Following-up, Hitchens noted that anyone who disagrees with our having invaded Iraq should have written their Senators and President Clinton in 1998 to voice their displeasure with that policy.
Stewart replied that (paraphrasing) "well, I think it was symbolic".
Translation: It didn't mean anything, we were just talking, we didn't actually intend to DO anything.
Maybe this explains why so many of us in the U.S. have such a hard time understanding the current terrorist threat - a threat that has existed, and will exist, regardless of whether a Liberal Democrat, Conservative Republican, or Green Tree Frog next holds the Presidency.
What do I mean? Well, for those who operate in a world where words don't hold definite meaning, it's difficult to grasp the deadly seriousness of an Islamofascist vow of "death to America". When Osama bin-Laden speaks of fighting the "Great Satan" and swears not to stop unless and until the whole world is Muslim, he means it. To our great danger, many in the U.S. cannot fathom that. It's just talk, right?
Remember September 11,2001. It's not symbolic, it's not just talk. And just talk from us won't end it.