12-7 And 9-11.

Just the other day, I sat watching reruns of an old TV series, The Waltons. The show was of the day when news arrived in the United States of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was a bit too young, then, to realize what had happened and too young even to remember. But as I think back, it must have been so very much like the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon. The loss of American lives in such a terrifying action left our country shocked, frightened and angry. Like 9-11, Pearl Harbor brought our country together. But unlike 9-11 the country remained pretty much united for the duration of the conflict. It was, of course, a much different conflict, with well established and recognized enemies and goals. It required the total concentration of our country to bring about the desired victory. We succeeded because our every effort, our every day, every citizen was a part of that struggle. In this war on terrorism, there is no well established and recognized enemy and the goals seem to change every time we turn around. Perhaps the most significant difference is that this war is fought by a very small portion of our citizenry. Except for them, there is no total effort and we have not been asked to share in the burden of this war. It therefore feels like it isn't even our war. It's being fought for us by others, at little or no cost to us except for the indebtedness it brings us. The anger we should have towards our enemy is instead directed toward each other, in our politics, and in the way we look at anyone who appears or sounds different from us. That is what the greatest cost to America will be, when at last the history is written on this decade.