Dear Nacho4Sara:
I remember when I was a Marine and I was sent to Vietnam for the fall of Saigon. A few weeks after we finished up there, I was sent out on a task force to rescue the Mayaguez, a U.S. Merchant Marine ship seized by Cambodia. Not too long after that I was in Korea on the DMZ when three American Army officers were murdered just five miles up the road in Panmunjom by the North Koreans. In fact, following the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam there were a number of international incidents all over the world as enemy nations and terrorist organizations tested the United States’ resolve to meet its commitments abroad.
I personally had to suit up for combat in all three of the instances that I mentioned. (Ultimately, for one reason or another, all three instances were resolved without my actually taking part in combat; but we were close by and anticipated getting involved.) One thing I remember about suiting up for combat was our mood. There was mourning and anger, especially in the Panmunjom incident–that event hit pretty close to home for all us American servicemen on the Korean DMZ. There was also a lot of focused concentration–you don’t know what’s coming, so you kind of spend half your time preparing and half your time fretting. But there was also a surprising amount of joking–you spend a lot of time doing the “hurry up and wait” thing, and the jokes relieve the tension.
Well, that’s kind of the way I see some of the reaction to the WTC and Pentagon bombings. There’s plenty of mourning and anger, and that’s certainly legitimate. But mourning and anger won’t be enough to carry us all the way through a resolution to the problem (bin Laden’s capture or death). There isn’t going to be a quick resolution to this thing. It won’t be over in a week or even a month. To really see this thing through, we’re going to need more–concentration, resolve, a clear-sighted appraisal of the enemy, some fretting, and even some joking and humor.
Lucky didn’t insult the American dead or their surviving relatives, nor did she side with bin Laden in any manner (she made it perfectly clear that she wants him dead). All she did was make a stupid, flippant joke to the effect that, in the midst of everything else going on, she can’t help but register the fact that he’s “hot.” And frankly, I laughed at it. It was just ridiculous enough and human enough that I thought it was funny and even a little endearing. It was very much like some of the silly, stupid things that us Marines giggled at nervously as we waited around for hours and then days and even weeks in our combat gear.
Let’s admit it–there isn’t much we can do at the moment. The President has to talk with allies, and the Pentagon has to assess our military options. We know something is going to happen sooner or later, but in the meantime there’s a little bit of the old “hurry up and wait” thing going on. So some people are getting a little giddy and a little silly. So be it. I’ve seen it before.
Hopefully a little giddiness doesn’t insult anyone. It’s just the way that some folks get at times like this–when they’re waiting for the next shoe to drop. Certainly I don’t intend to disparage you or your way of reacting to recent events. People should be aggrieved and angry. I’ll join you in waving the flag and helping to bury the dead. And I’ll support whatever action President Bush decides on, and I’ll bear my part of the burden when the time comes. But during this “hurry up and wait” part of the game, my way of reacting to events is to turn off the news, watch a comedy video, and have a laugh when someone suggests that bin Laden is “hot.” It’s my way of looking at things, based on having been there a few times before in the past.
By the way, I work in downtown Washington, D.C. I’m not with the federal government or the military, but my company building is pretty close to the White House and I sometimes stroll down Pennsylvania Ave. at lunchtime.
The day of the WTC and Pentagon attacks was a bit unnerving. First the WTC towers, then the Pentagon, then the plane crash across the border in Pennsylvania, and then some other wild rumors of local destruction–a story of a fire on the Mall in DC, then a story of an explosion at the Capitol building (false rumors, as it turns out). After all the sirens on the street and hearing the wild rumors, for a while it seemed like half of DC was going up in flames. But by late morning everything had calmed down quite a bit–just some tense anticipation as to whether something else might still come out of the woodwork. Around lunchtime our company told us to go home, so I took the subway out to the ‘burbs and stopped off at Blockbuster on the way home to pick up some comedies–I knew my fiancee was a little worked up about what had happened and I thought it best to divert her with some light fare. At home we watched some more of the news coverage, then we turned off the news and popped a comedy in the VCR to watch over dinner. After the movie, we went to bed at the normal time.
Were we taking things too lightly? I don’t think so. I’m an ex-Marine and she’s a flag-waving Mid-Westerner. There just wasn’t anything more for us to do about it that night.
I feel bad for the dead and their surviving relatives. But I don’t focus solely on them. There’s a larger context. There’s also the bombing of the Cole and the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa. There’s also bin Laden’s support for Hezbollah and Hamas and other terrorist organizations. There’s also terrorist actions against U.S. allies and friends.
It’s going to take a while to resolve all this, so we might as well settle in for the long haul. By all means, let’s bury the dead at the WTC and the Pentagon with all due solemnity; by all means let’s plan on roasting bin Laden’s ass when the time is right, and let’s start working toward that goal now. By all means, let’s remain focused and resolved on capturing or killing bin Laden. But let’s also remember that life has to go on in the meantime. Let’s remember to turn off the news, watch a comedy video, and crack a few jokes in the meantime. You can’t keep the adrenaline set on high forever. It’s going to take a while, and you have to ease up and get a good night’s sleep sooner or later.
In the meantime, don’t worry–it’s understood that Bin Laden’s ass belongs to us. That’s a given. It’s just a matter of time.