Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Andrew Sullivan in the London Times
No eloquence can match the impact of their evil. Americans' critical
weakness in the past two decades has been their reluctance to shed blood
for their goals. They believed they could construct a huge military and
never have it fight real wars and suffer real casualties. They thought
they
could alter history and advance their interests from the air alone. With
the exception of the Gulf War, which they hesitated to finish, they have
shrunk from the fight. When the current enemy struck again and again
throughout the 1990s, Bill Clinton responded without real credibility,
struck back without real endurance, enraged the terrorists without truly
hurting them. We are now living with the consequences of his
appeasement,
and of his refusal to challenge Americans beyond what the polls said
they
already wanted to do. Whoever launched this war on Americans has now
accomplished the task Clinton didn't dare embark on. America has been
bloodied as it has never been bloodied before.
I would be a fool to predict what happens next. But it is clear that
Bush
will not do a Clinton. This will not be a surgical strike. It will not
be a
gesture. It may not even begin in earnest soon. But it will be deadly
serious. It is clear that there is no way that the United States can
achieve its goals without the cooperation of many other states - an
alliance as deep and as broad as that which won the Gulf War. It is also
clear that this cannot be done by airpower alone. As in 1941, the
neglect
of the military under Bill Clinton and the parsimony of its financing
even
under Bush must now not merely be ended but reversed. We may see the
biggest defense build-up since the early 1980s - and not just in
weaponry
but in manpower. It is also quite clear that the U. S. military presence
in
the Middle East must be ramped up exponentially, its intelligence
overhauled, its vigilance heightened exponentially. In some ways, Bush
has
already assembled the ideal team for such a task: Powell for the
diplomatic
dance, Rumsfeld for the deep reforms he will now have the opportunity to
enact, Cheney as his most trusted aide in what has become to all intents
and purposes a war cabinet.
The terrorists have done the rest. The middle part of the country - the
great red zone that voted for Bush - is clearly ready for war. The
decadent
Left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead - and may well mount what
amounts to a fifth column. But by striking at the heart of New York
City,
the terrorists ensured that at least one deep segment of the country
ill-disposed toward a new president is now the most passionate in his
defense. Anyone who has ever tried to get one over on a New Yorker knows
what I mean. The demons who started this have no idea about the kind of
people they have taken on.
But what the terrorists are also counting on is that Americans will not
have the stomach for the long haul. They clearly know that the coming
retaliation will not be the end but the beginning. And when the
terrorists
strike back again, they have let us know that the results could make the
assault on the World Trade Center look puny. They are banking that
Americans will then cave. They have seen a great country quarrel to the
edge of constitutional crisis over a razor-close presidential election.
They have seen it respond to real threats in the last few years with
squeamish restraint or surgical strikes. They have seen that, as Israel
has
been pounded by the same murderous thugs, the United States has
responded
with equanimity. They have seen a great nation at the height of its
power
obsess for a whole summer over a missing intern and a randy Congressman.
They have good reason to believe that this country is soft, that it has
no
appetite for the war that has now begun. They have gambled that in
response
to unprecedented terror, the Americans will abandon Israel to the
barbarians who would annihilate every Jew on the planet, and trade away
their freedom for a respite from terror in their own land.
We cannot foresee the future. But we know the past. And that past tells
us
that these people who destroyed the heart of New York City have made a
terrible mistake. This country is at its heart a peaceful one. It has
done
more to help the world than any other actor in world history. It saved
the
world from the two greatest evils of the last century in Nazism and
Soviet
Communism. It responded to its victories in the last war by pouring aid
into Europe and Japan. In the Middle East, America alone has ensured
that
the last hope of the Jewish people is not extinguished and has given
more
aid to Egypt than to any other country. It risked its own people to save
the Middle East from the pseudo-Hitler in Baghdad. America need not have
done any of this. Its world hegemony has been less violent and less
imperial than any other comparable power in history. In the depths of
its
soul, it wants its dream to itself, to be left alone, to prosper among
others, and to welcome them to the freedom America has helped secure.
But whenever Americans have been challenged, they have risen to the
task.
In some awful way, these evil thugs may have done us a favor. America
may
have woken up for ever. The rage that will follow from this grief and
shock
may be deeper and greater than anyone now can imagine. Think of what the
United States ultimately did to the enemy that bombed Pearl Harbor. Now
recall that American power in the world is all but unchallenged by any
other state. Recall that America has never been wealthier, and is at the
end of one of the biggest booms in its history. And now consider the
extent
of this wound - the greatest civilian casualties since the Civil War, an
assault not just on Americans but on the meaning of America itself. When
you take a step back, it is hard not to believe that we are now in the
quiet moment before the whirlwind. Americans will recover their dead,
and
they will mourn them, and then they will get down to business. Their
sadness will be mingled with an anger that will make the hatred of these
evil fanatics seem mild.
I am reminded of a great American poem written by Herman Melville after
the
death of Abraham Lincoln, the second founder of the country:
"There is sobbing of the strong,
And a pall upon the land;
But the People in their weeping
Bare the iron hand;
Beware the People weeping
When they bare the iron hand. "
No eloquence can match the impact of their evil. Americans' critical
weakness in the past two decades has been their reluctance to shed blood
for their goals. They believed they could construct a huge military and
never have it fight real wars and suffer real casualties. They thought
they
could alter history and advance their interests from the air alone. With
the exception of the Gulf War, which they hesitated to finish, they have
shrunk from the fight. When the current enemy struck again and again
throughout the 1990s, Bill Clinton responded without real credibility,
struck back without real endurance, enraged the terrorists without truly
hurting them. We are now living with the consequences of his
appeasement,
and of his refusal to challenge Americans beyond what the polls said
they
already wanted to do. Whoever launched this war on Americans has now
accomplished the task Clinton didn't dare embark on. America has been
bloodied as it has never been bloodied before.
I would be a fool to predict what happens next. But it is clear that
Bush
will not do a Clinton. This will not be a surgical strike. It will not
be a
gesture. It may not even begin in earnest soon. But it will be deadly
serious. It is clear that there is no way that the United States can
achieve its goals without the cooperation of many other states - an
alliance as deep and as broad as that which won the Gulf War. It is also
clear that this cannot be done by airpower alone. As in 1941, the
neglect
of the military under Bill Clinton and the parsimony of its financing
even
under Bush must now not merely be ended but reversed. We may see the
biggest defense build-up since the early 1980s - and not just in
weaponry
but in manpower. It is also quite clear that the U. S. military presence
in
the Middle East must be ramped up exponentially, its intelligence
overhauled, its vigilance heightened exponentially. In some ways, Bush
has
already assembled the ideal team for such a task: Powell for the
diplomatic
dance, Rumsfeld for the deep reforms he will now have the opportunity to
enact, Cheney as his most trusted aide in what has become to all intents
and purposes a war cabinet.
The terrorists have done the rest. The middle part of the country - the
great red zone that voted for Bush - is clearly ready for war. The
decadent
Left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead - and may well mount what
amounts to a fifth column. But by striking at the heart of New York
City,
the terrorists ensured that at least one deep segment of the country
ill-disposed toward a new president is now the most passionate in his
defense. Anyone who has ever tried to get one over on a New Yorker knows
what I mean. The demons who started this have no idea about the kind of
people they have taken on.
But what the terrorists are also counting on is that Americans will not
have the stomach for the long haul. They clearly know that the coming
retaliation will not be the end but the beginning. And when the
terrorists
strike back again, they have let us know that the results could make the
assault on the World Trade Center look puny. They are banking that
Americans will then cave. They have seen a great country quarrel to the
edge of constitutional crisis over a razor-close presidential election.
They have seen it respond to real threats in the last few years with
squeamish restraint or surgical strikes. They have seen that, as Israel
has
been pounded by the same murderous thugs, the United States has
responded
with equanimity. They have seen a great nation at the height of its
power
obsess for a whole summer over a missing intern and a randy Congressman.
They have good reason to believe that this country is soft, that it has
no
appetite for the war that has now begun. They have gambled that in
response
to unprecedented terror, the Americans will abandon Israel to the
barbarians who would annihilate every Jew on the planet, and trade away
their freedom for a respite from terror in their own land.
We cannot foresee the future. But we know the past. And that past tells
us
that these people who destroyed the heart of New York City have made a
terrible mistake. This country is at its heart a peaceful one. It has
done
more to help the world than any other actor in world history. It saved
the
world from the two greatest evils of the last century in Nazism and
Soviet
Communism. It responded to its victories in the last war by pouring aid
into Europe and Japan. In the Middle East, America alone has ensured
that
the last hope of the Jewish people is not extinguished and has given
more
aid to Egypt than to any other country. It risked its own people to save
the Middle East from the pseudo-Hitler in Baghdad. America need not have
done any of this. Its world hegemony has been less violent and less
imperial than any other comparable power in history. In the depths of
its
soul, it wants its dream to itself, to be left alone, to prosper among
others, and to welcome them to the freedom America has helped secure.
But whenever Americans have been challenged, they have risen to the
task.
In some awful way, these evil thugs may have done us a favor. America
may
have woken up for ever. The rage that will follow from this grief and
shock
may be deeper and greater than anyone now can imagine. Think of what the
United States ultimately did to the enemy that bombed Pearl Harbor. Now
recall that American power in the world is all but unchallenged by any
other state. Recall that America has never been wealthier, and is at the
end of one of the biggest booms in its history. And now consider the
extent
of this wound - the greatest civilian casualties since the Civil War, an
assault not just on Americans but on the meaning of America itself. When
you take a step back, it is hard not to believe that we are now in the
quiet moment before the whirlwind. Americans will recover their dead,
and
they will mourn them, and then they will get down to business. Their
sadness will be mingled with an anger that will make the hatred of these
evil fanatics seem mild.
I am reminded of a great American poem written by Herman Melville after
the
death of Abraham Lincoln, the second founder of the country:
"There is sobbing of the strong,
And a pall upon the land;
But the People in their weeping
Bare the iron hand;
Beware the People weeping
When they bare the iron hand. "
