Nothing Is A Good Weapon

It seems to me that the terrorists with whom America is "at war" are doing exactly the right thing — nothing.

In the meantime, the U.S. government seems to be digging itself into a deeper and deeper hole. There are raucous debates over anti-terrorism measures; any concern for budget discipline has gone out the window; government power is being expanded on a willy-nilly basis; civil liberties are being put in jeopardy; the American economy, particularly the aviation industry, is being strained; and pressing problems such as the environment, economic infrastructure and a sensible trade policy are all shoved to the back burner.

And what has all this cost the terrorists? Nothing. Not a single bullet, not a stick of dynamite. Nearly a year ago, some men hijacked four airplanes and crashed them, dying with their victims. Since then, nothing has happened. While we have gone to war in Afghanistan, made a mess of foreign policy, greatly alarmed our traditional allies and, frankly, conducted ourselves in general as a nascent fascist state, the terrorists have done nothing.

Even conservative Christians have become alarmed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose nomination they lobbied for heavily. But Ashcroft, with visions of evil Muslims floating in his head and a terrorist under every bed, seems to have gone over the side of the good ship Common Sense.

For a while, it seemed as if President Bush was ready to declare war on the entire rest of the world, and even now he wants to convert the military into a domestic police force, as well as set up civilian vigilante and block spy committees.

Does anyone else think we might have overreacted?