The fateful day of 9-11 started with a small newsflash coming across my computer at my office “plane hits World Trade Center”. The assumption at the time was that it was a small single engine plane, and that there was some plausible explanation…pilot heart attack, mechanical malfunction, or pilot error. I called a client on the phone to discuss some business, and as our conversation progressed I could sense his attention was elsewhere. He told me to turn on my office TV.
By this time, it was evident that it was a large passenger jet and the newscasters were correctly assuming that large commercial passenger jets don’t just hit buildings, especially iconic buildings in the middle of Manhattan on a clear day. The next couple of hours were without a doubt the first and only time I have ever felt that America – and my way of life - was under attack. It became personal for me at that moment. Are my kids and wife OK? What should I do? After all, another plane hit the WTC building #2, the two buildings collapse, the Pentagon gets hit, the White House evacuates, the plane goes down in Pennsylvania – and thousands of planes are in the air and all potentially flying missiles. I made a judgment call and stayed at my office and manned the phones as my anxious clients called in one after the other wanting to know what to do with their investments (I’m a financial consultant). Eventually, the assault ended, but there was a stark realization that the thin veneer of stability and civilization in America had been shattered. Now we had to pick up the pieces and make sure this never happened again.
How has America changed since 9-11? Of course. There is a threat awareness that exists with our law enforcement and the American public. Yes, our airline system is safer. Yes, we are aware of the threat of Muslim extremism as a primary threat. But if I was to sum it up, our government has utterly failed to get ahead of the curve when it comes to protecting America’s national security, or even defining what the national security threats are to America. Our border between Mexico is wide open to Mexican gangs, smugglers and extremists who wish America harm. That is a national security issue. Our manufacturing base has eroded to the point of almost non-existence, and as a result our balance of trade with the rest of the world is upside down. That is a national security issue. Our dependence on foreign countries as our creditors has compromised our foreign policy. That is a national security issue. Our dependence on Arab oil, our refusal to drill in Alaska, and the lack of a coherent alternative energy policy has financed Muslim extremism and hardened the intractable positions of many Arab countries. That is a national security issue. Lastly, the inability of our government to function within a budget and actually accomplish meaningful legislation that puts America’s interests ahead of partisan politics has eroded our confidence – and the confidence of the world in our ability to correct the course America has charted for itself. The fact that America is no longer perceived as the traditional “safe haven”, and has abandoned traditional allies without a clear foreign policy objective is a national security issue.
Maybe we need to be more vigilant about the greatest threat to America. The people we elect.
