Many commentators are describing the disasters in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania as terrorist attacks -- the worst since Pearl Harbor 60 years ago. None I've seen call them what they are: the predictable result of American policy.
Sixty years ago, Americans ignored the twin threats of Japanese militarism and German National Socialism. That denial resulted in the deaths not only of more than 2,000 sailors in Hawaii, but in the loss of millions of people -- and our nearly losing World War II.
Happily, master politician-president Franklin Roosevelt knew Americans' political limits, and moved them skillfully through a "Back Door to War," as historian Charles Beard argued.
This time, denial remains the case, but there is no master politician.
Since the contested election in November and his coronation by the Supreme Court, George W. Bush, first, ignored the suffering of the Palestinians in the Middle East, then urged Israelis and Palestinians to settle their differences by leaving Ariel Sharon to pursue a policy of non-negotiation and state assassinations. When the world, at the U.N. conference in Durban, focused the bankruptcy of our policy, the delegations of both Israel and the United States walked out, rather than deal.
The result is predictable. How can we allow, now for decades, millions of people to live like transients, camped out along the West Bank and Gaza strip, while Sharon and his accomplices settle expropriated land, force the Palestinians out, and assassinate those who vigorously oppose them? How can we fail to see our policy has created zealots and suicide bombers, willing to attack us in our own skies, on our own soil?
The Palestinians' legitimate hopes for peace were raised by the Oslo Accords (signed on yesterday's anniversary), and by dogged efforts over eight years by President Clinton to reach a settlement.
Then came George Bush.
One test of leadership is the capacity to accept the danger, and commit to a just policy for all. Roosevelt, unable to walk, nevertheless convened a joint session of Congress the next day to declare war. He met with Churchill, Stalin, and de Gaulle, secretly, in areas of danger, to finish the war, and achieve the peace.
In contrast, George Bush appeared in Florida yesterday, campaigning for brother Jeb's effort to hold onto the office he used to steal a national election. George Bush said he intends to hunt down the "terrorists."
He then flew Air Force One to Louisiana, taking refuge in a bunker near Omaha, as far from coastal danger as you can run.
How can we expect anything better, when we pursue a policy of neglect? How can we hope for better with a policy-maker who hid out during the Vietnam War, and remains hidden now?
Why are we, then, surprised that a policy of neglect and cowardice results in a pay-off of death for thousands?
How can we be so blind? How long will we remain so?
-Bill Israel is a UMass Journalism professor.
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