With Osama bin Laden’s latest tape sending new shivers down the backs of Americans, it’s time to compare the threat of al-Qaida to other threats the United States has faced.
When the Japanese bombed out our Pacific Naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, they (the Japanese) still had a full army, navy and air force to inflict further damage. At the same time Nazi Germany under Hitler had built a powerful military machine, and had allied itself with Fascist Italy for even greater power. The U.S. defeated them all.
When the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear armed missiles aimed at the U.S. with thousands more in reserve, the U.S. met and overcame that threat of total annihilation.
After al-Qaida operatives hijacked four airplanes, flying three of them into important U.S. buildings (while the fourth plane crashed in an open field as passengers fought back), they had nothing left for another frontal attack. They are still trying to hatch another plot against the U.S.
Can anyone seriously claim that al-Qaida represents the threat that Germany, Japan and Italy represented, or the threat that the Soviet Union represented? Al-Qaida represents a serious threat to life and property; it represents no threat to the U.S. as an entity. It cannot destroy the U.S. as the others could have. For our president to repeatedly heighten public fear by exaggerating that threat, and to reach for expanded presidential power based on that threat is utterly absurd. The public, the press, and the courts should recognize this truth.
Bruce Barnbaum
Granite Falls
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
