Too many ceremonies, too little comfort
By Alan Caruba
web
posted June 3, 2002
 Doves are released at the site of the World Trade Center in New York on June 2. Family members held their own service called "Ground Zero, Closing Ceremony" after the official service hosted by the city was held three days earlier |
Three days after the nation celebrated Memorial Day, there was yet another event, a celebration of the World Trade Center cleanup completion. Why? I queried friends on the bulletin boards I visit and they too agreed we have reached the point of overkill. The only 9-11 celebration I want to see will be the victory parade when troops march down Fifth Avenue or Pennsylvania Avenue to mark the success of our military operations, first in Afghanistan, and then in Iraq.
I have long since lost all sympathy-if I ever had it-for the lies of the Arab and Persian imams and ayatollahs. There is madness loose in the world and it is coming from the dementia that is called militant Islam.
I have moved well beyond sorrow for the victims of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I am pretty damned angry and have been since that fateful day. I am angry about bureaucratic bumbling, lack of communication, and poor intelligence analysis. The criticism leveled against the FBI and CIA, however, ignores the many legal restrictions placed on both these agencies following the Watergate scandals. It's worth reminding ourselves that thousands of very dedicated people work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency.
I am angry with a Congress that thinks federalizing the same incompetents who provided airport "security" in the past will magically improve it in the future and I am angry with the decision to deny those pilots who want the option the right to be armed. I am angry with idiotic immigration policies that have made our nation's borders meaningless lines on a map. I am angry with the Immigration and Naturalization Service that is still admitting people from nations known to be harboring and fostering terrorism.
I am tired of the too frequent vague "warnings" being issued by officials who simply want to cover their behinds in case anything should happen. We have been warned. We have been warned since 1979 when the Iranians seized our diplomats and held them hostage for 444 days. We were warned when our embassies were blown up and when the USS Cole was attacked. How many warnings do we need to understand we are at war?
I am angry with the whining of liberals who worry that authorizing law enforcement agencies greater latitude in finding and arresting the terrorists among us may cost us all our Constitutional rights. If the terrorists effectively destroy our airlines, our food supplies, or our water, it won't matter. The simple fact is we are dealing with an enemy capable of mass murder on a scale that would make the Nazis blush.
I am angry with those Democrats-Tom Daschle, Dick Gephardt, Hillary Clinton, and others- who attempted to convince Americans that President Bush actually knew in advance about 9-11 and did nothing. Let's turn these traitors out of office at the earliest possible opportunity.
I don't really give a damn about the opinion of the European Union, an organization that continues to send millions to support the Palestinian Authority and is doing everything it can to prevent the actions necessary to clean up the mess we call the Middle East. Only US resolve and action will end that threat.
I would like to bulldoze the United Nations building and make room along the East River of New York for anything else; a shelter for homeless people or even a dog pound. The UN has proved itself incapable of its Charter obligation to maintain peace in the world. It is the protector of dictators and despotic governments. It is the ultimate enemy of liberty and freedom. This evil institution is the personification of Big Brother.
So, as for celebrations, let's celebrate our freedom, our liberty, on
July 4th, and then let's put on the armor of the righteous and do battle
with those who would take these precious legacies from us. 
Alan Caruba is the author of "A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam",
available from www.anxietycenter.com,
the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center. (c) Alan Caruba, 2002
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