What's The Difference?

Today, 9-11-11, in the local newspaper, there were two editorials that discussed the similarities and differences between 9-11 and 12-7. One was by George Will who I'm often in disagreement with, but whose intellect I never question. The other is by Carl Leubsdorf, retired Washington Bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News. The most marked difference pointed out was the fact that 12-7-41 is not much commemorated because there was a far more preferable day or dates. Namely D Day and then VE day and VJ day, the last two noting victories in the two front war that took 400,000 American lives. By the tenth anniversary of that war, we had won that one and were trying to wind down Korea. In the current situation, we are not only still fighting with little chance of a final victory in sight, but 9-11 wasn't even the first attack on us. It was in fact, the culmination of five attacks on America beginning with the failed attempt on the world trade center in 93, followed by the the Kobar Towers in 96, the 98 attacks on our East African embassies, and the USS Cole in 2000. As I said Friday, they were two entirely different wars. What was most significant however was how we stood ten years later. In 1951, we had come out of the deepest Depression in our history, fought an extremely costly, two front war and came out in much better financial position than now. In 2001 we were in a great financial position and went into a war  that became a two front war by mistake ( to put it diplomatically) and have arrived in a deep recession and in terribly poor financial health. How could we have done so poorly this time? In WW11 the nation was mobilized, taxes were raised for the "War Effort" and everyone was called upon to sacrifice, this time almost no one was called upon to mobilize, Taxes were reduced with the funds to prosecute the war being borrowed and only a very few were asked to sacrificed. In the years of WW11, even though the two parties bickered over other things, the president brought them together in unity for the War Effort, but in the years following 9-11, even the president participated in partisanship finger-pointing. While there are many other similarities and differences, I guess this current decade will go down as an example of how not to do war.