what safety and unsafety meant over the decades

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.

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