Did we play into the terrorists' hands on 9/11?

By: Kerris Lee

Posted: 2/1/10

Since the terrorist attack of 9/11, we have engaged in a "War on Terrorism." The result of this has led us to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These conflicts were labeled as the "war on terror."

Although, there were some skeptical Americans about the wars and its semantic use, many Americans bought into the war on an unsubstantial argument; "We have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here."

In spite of this, we have witnessed in non-chronological order: Anthrax attacks that were never solved; a shoe bomber attack; a murderous D.C. sniper attack; Fort Hood shooting by Nidal Hasan who killed 13 soldiers on a Virginia base, wounding 30; and an attack from an Al-Qaeda trained terrorist from Yemen, Umar Abdulmutallab on Christmas day.

With each event constantly changing the way we look at the world, it is clear we are still being attacked here even though we are fighting them abroad. So, an important question remains, did we play into the terrorist hands on 9/11?

In retrospect, the terrorist never had the same military capabilities to ever rival the military capabilities in the United States. The only thing that they were capable of was fear; and with this notion, maybe they could inject this fear into the United States. Perhaps then we would consume ourselves and sacrifice our ideals and freedoms we previously fought to preserve.

For instance, after World War II the Cold War began, Communism vs. Capitalism. In this conflict, the Soviet Union sought to combat and overtake our political economic system of capitalism. Although, the climax of the conflicts between the Soviet Union and the Americans led to arms races. It eventually led to great things like the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the "Space Race", and a withdrawal from arms on both sides.

In this time and many others in our history we did not compromise our ideals and freedoms, we stood for them and protected them and because of it, our country is a dynamic and unique nation. However, that doesn't stay true on the so-called "war on terror" front. We are willingly sacrificing our freedoms in order to feel safe. The Patriot Act and Guantanamo Bay (where people whom we deem have no rights can be tortured at will) come to mind.

Around the globe, our military remains stretched to the brink from two wars and eight years of trillions of dollars spent, meanwhile our nation's debt surges. And still we are not any safer. We cannot even bring our toothpaste on board without being padded down like criminals!

So, obviously we have given up our freedoms because of terrorist plots. But, for some critics of this piece, I assert who are we anymore? A country that, at the blink of an eye, will compromise our freedoms? What is the constitution worth to our country if we turn a blind eye to it out of political expedience?

Our government has an obligation to give our people the utmost freedoms sustainable for our society not take them away. We must not forget that security is a farce. We make it up in our head order to feel safe. Any moment someone can walk into a hotel or a movie theater and blow it up! We must focus on our true enemy, Al-Qaida, and our worst enemy: ourselves. We must realize that there has to be an element of risk in order to live free!