11 thoughts on “Twenty-One Years On”

  1. The Pearl Harbor attack led to a formal declaration of war, with the entire American nation mobilized in some way or another to wage and win that war. It therefore was an anchor point in the nation’s identity by the time the Baby Boomers came along.

    It didn’t hurt that we won that war, either.

    1. We won it in 3 3/4 years, too. Not 21 and counting.

      Also, AFAIK everyone who attacked Pearl Harbor was Japanese.

      15/19 9/11 attackers were Saudi

      Why did we not attack the Kingdom of Saud? They harbored these terrorists, gave them passports, funded them through government supported ‘religious’ organizations

      1. I disagreed with the idea back then, but in hindsight we should have nuked Mecca and Medina. Many times for both. Including Cobalt bombs.

        1. but in hindsight we should have nuked Mecca and Medina.

          That would have worked well for the martyrdom industry which heavily depends on oppressive acts like that to thrive. I suggest instead that it was wise not to feed the problem to that degree.

      2. The one thing we didn’t do was go wherever our enemy was and destroy their people and resources. We actually helped them grow poppies.

      3. 15/19 9/11 attackers were Saudi

        Why did we not attack the Kingdom of Saud? They harbored these terrorists, gave them passports, funded them through government supported ‘religious’ organizations

        They were funded through Al Qaeda which was an anti-kingdom organization. Sure, this is not the first time allies of the US have caused problems for the US, but Saudi Arabia didn’t plan or execute that attack. Nor did they cause the US’s excessive reaction to that attack.

    2. We could have raised an army large enough to occupy all of Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of just a few places in Afghanistan.

  2. In no particular order….

    Ed, I would agree that a half-dozen megaton-class H-bombs dropped on Mecca and the same treatment for Medina would have been quite satisfying in the heat of the moment. But with rumors of “loose nukes” out there, how soon would it have been before some Muslim nut-case got the idea of nuking the Vatican in retaliation?

    McGehee, you bring up a good point — Pearl Harbor stuck in people’s minds for a long time because of the war (at least, America’s involvement in it) that followed. Things became “abnormal” after December 7, 1941, and didn’t go back to “normal” (more or less) for nearly four years. After 9/11, life pretty much went on as usual for most people in most places — no mass mobilizations, no rationing, no exhortations to buy War Bonds, etc., etc. The “excitement” died away pretty quickly. *shrug*

    Hale Adams
    Pikesville, People’s still-mostly-Democratic Republic of Maryland

  3. Among those who were most vocal about 9/11 being “our fault” was “libertarian” Senator Rand Paul.

    Everyone should be glad that I wasn’t President that day. By late afternoon of 9/11, I had envisioned what my response would have been. I would have ordered a coordinated strategic missile strike of a combination of Peacekeeper, Minuteman III and Trident D-5 systems on the capital cities of every nation on Earth that ha ever sponsored, conducted, harbored, or exported terrorist activity (including Ireland) – with the last deliveries scheduled for 11:59 pm Zulu. Then I would have made a televised address to the world at 11:30 pm Zulu to announce what was coming, and warn everyone on Earth who might object – including our allies – that there was plenty more where this came from, and end with the admonishment: “Don’t any of you ever dare fuck with the United States of America again.”

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