Stu Bykofsky wrote a piece for The Philly Daily News with the premise that America needs another 9/11 in order to unite the country again, To save America, we need another 9/11:
Remember the community of outrage and national resolve? America had not been so united since the first Day of Infamy - 12/7/41.
We knew who the enemy was then.
We knew who the enemy was shortly after 9/11.
Because we have mislaid 9/11, we have endless sideshow squabbles about whether the surge is working, if we are “safer” now, whether the FBI should listen in on foreign phone calls, whether cops should detain odd-acting “flying imams,” whether those plotting alleged attacks on Fort Dix or Kennedy airport are serious threats or amateur bumblers. We bicker over the trees while the forest is ablaze.
America’s fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.
What would sew us back together?
Another 9/11 attack.
The Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Rushmore. Chicago’s Wrigley Field. The Philadelphia subway system. The U.S. is a target-rich environment for al Qaeda.
Is there any doubt they are planning to hit us again?
I really think this is an over simplification on the author’s part. He points out that we “bicker over the trees while the forest is ablaze”. Isn’t that exactly what he is doing here? Viewing the war in a vacuum and coming to the conclusion that this event is “pulling America’s fabric apart like a cheap sweater” is foolish at best.