Suicide Bombers in America

Suicide Bombers in America

Article of the Day: "Cool It" by Thomas Friedman of the NY Times.

Just came back from lunch and 40 minutes in the sun watching ships and fighter planes go by. This morning I was walking around and I was thinking about how the head of the FBI recently said it was only a matter of time before suicide bombings (in the form of human bombs) would come to the streets of America. Kind of scary isn't it? I can't even imagine what the Israelis have to go through. Imagine sending your teenage daughter to the grocery store and finding out an hour later that she's been blown to bits by a Palestinian girl her age. Imagine walking down the street and every car, every truck, every anything could legitimately be an explosive device of some sort. Imagine not being able to trust a race of people who live in the same area as you, not simply because of prejudice (which unfortunately is a very human emotion) but because they might have a whole shitload of C4 strapped to their waist that you can't see. That shit is fucked up enough in Tel Aviv but imagine that shit happening in Manhattan or Brooklyn or Ridgewood, New Jersey.

I hate to go off on another one of my political rants but I don't see why people are surprised all this crap is happening. In the past couple decades there has been a backlash against even the perceived ideas of isolationism or imperialism within this country. As a result our leaders live in fear of some public relations nightmare that will cast them as villains in the world arena. Every decision is second, third, fourth, tenth-guessed. Monday morning quarterbacks write scathing commentaries after the fact, regardless of the fact that hindsight is 20-20. The United States (through a need to appease leftist countries that acknowledge the need for a country to act as an International Police without wanting the responsibility themselves) completely decimated that which previously kept terrorists at bay: fear of an American military response. The terrorists knew, know that they can fuck with the U.S. for their own purposes as much, long and hard as possible without having to worry about serious retribution to them and their loved ones. Despite all reports to the contrary we are a civilized country.

Anyway that's my point. I'm pretty sick and tired of Non-British European countries going off about how vile the U.S. is, meanwhile they have skeletons as well. And to compound matters, they hate the role of the U.S. as The World Police but they don't want the job for their country either. It's like the people in this country who hate policemen, yet you don't see them joining the police force and implementing positive changes in the ranks. No, they'll just bitch outside the precinct for awhile then go back to their cushy jobs, or unemployed existences or job-that-contributes-nothing-to-the-greater-good. I'm not saying people shouldn't keep the U.S./police/authorities in check. That's a must. But don't be so fucking judgemental. I don't see you putting your life on the line everyday for a bunch of strangers.

Anyway as I was walking this morning I was remembering ancient history, specifically the Punic Wars. Rome and Carthage were fairly evenly matched but after years of battle the Phoenicians finally gave up from sheer lack of energy/will/whatever to continue and slunk back to Carthage. Eventually their city was destroyed by the Romans, who were bitter at the level of damage inflicted by General Hannibal (plus the Romans normally had a tendency to eliminate any power in their empire that had any type of independence). Imagine if the ancient world of war and conquerers existed today and was accepted by all as a way of life. What would the peaceniks do for fun??