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what safety and unsafety meant over the decades

Reader comment on item: "Are We Safer?"

Submitted by myth (Germany), Sep 18, 2011 at 07:45

My home city's largest church has the tower top missing. My grandmother walked over 100km out of the city to escape and find safety to give birth to my father. The US-Airforce and the RAF bombed big german cities. That was making her feel and live unsafe. Later during the Cold War, the Soviet-Union threatened us with missiles, planes and tanks. That was on the tv-news regularly, the Red Army boasting their arsenal in parades in Moscow or East-Berlin. Only this time the US-Airforce and all the rest of it protected us. The general rule was: "safe" translated into protection by the US, "unsafe" translated into being targeted by the US.

When I was in NYC christmas 2001 I did not find a single New Yorker who was afraid, quite the contrary. On the other hand the 9-11 attacks on the Pentagon demonstrated an absurd vulnerability to me. I cannot imagine a succesfull attack on a US Airforce base in Germany. How come the US exposed the Pentagon defenceless? The attack on the Pentagon ridiculed the US' superpower status, making me feel unsafe. The subsequent wars, which the USA won, restored that status. The relationship between safety and the direction of US military power was again intact. The US military would kill islamist terrorists faster than they would grow beards.

The 9-11 islamist terrorists created a precedent of historical dimensions. This crime woke up the western world and created an awareness of the ongoing threat for decades to come. Before law enforcement would dismiss information about suspicious behaviour on the part of muslims. The police's everyday work and attitude was reactive. As a direct result of the 9-11 attacks the police went proactive against the islamist threat. Transformed from reactive action, restoring order after the event, to proactive intervention. We are safe to the extent that islamists are unsafe. Looking at islamist terrorists killed or captured since 2001 we are substantially safer. Only this time with our eyes open. Next step is to open our ears.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (17) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1If only we had acted sooner... [88 words]JC VaughanNov 1, 2011 13:32190550
safe and secure.... [116 words]donvanOct 19, 2011 16:43190174
Palestinian State Has Big Supporters [33 words]Mark D.Sep 21, 2011 23:03189483
what safety and unsafety meant over the decades [336 words]mythSep 18, 2011 07:45189386
Are we safer [236 words]sufi imdad ali soomroSep 15, 2011 01:50189336
He who sows wars shall harvest attacks ... [95 words]Frederico PinheiroSep 13, 2011 17:22189316
No [35 words]Ravi Ranjan Singh Bharat PanthiSep 16, 2011 04:03189316
1Rome was safer after Carthage was destroyed [475 words]HomefrontSep 19, 2011 20:57189316
Sowing the Wind-Reaping the Whirlwind [481 words]M. ToveySep 21, 2011 11:18189316
How are you safer? [178 words]AEBSep 11, 2011 21:05189275
1Are we safer [124 words]Samuel StephensSep 11, 2011 11:11189261
Thank you Dr. Pipes! [19 words]Brian RubadukaSep 11, 2011 06:57189251
One Can Make A Case [32 words]Mark DSep 10, 2011 19:42189239
We're Better Off Without 9/11 [64 words]Mark D.Sep 10, 2011 19:30189238
Absolutism vs Certainty as cause of 9'11 'evil' [371 words]Stephen BorkowskiSep 10, 2011 12:21189228
1A few words in appreciation of Daniel Pipes [240 words]lucretiusSep 10, 2011 07:49189222
1Like the '29 Crash [110 words]jdSep 9, 2011 22:09189211

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