Thanks to an aggressive military and law-enforcement effort, life is much harder for terrorists nowadays. But Al Qaeda has a history of biding its time, with a year or two usually between major attacks. Even if Osama bin Laden is killed, his network will still be operating in 60 countries, plotting revenge. It’s a natural cycle: recovery breeds relaxation, which in turn breeds new vulnerability. When the busy public moves on, the patient terrorists may move in.
Fortunately, we’re not moving on too hastily. While no society can stay constantly on high alert, the public response to the attacks has been, by and large, refreshingly steadfast. Avoiding the extremes of obsession and denial, most people have stayed calm and resolute, as if trying to debunk those stereotypes of Americans as celebrity-addled cowboys with short attention spans. No one has pretended to some phony “closure.” At the same time, fear of traveling or visiting crowded areas has proved less intense than expected. There’s a balance here that most people have gotten about right.
The question is whether the United States can maintain its fighting trim in 2002 and beyond. It’s a little like real body fat. You can put on pounds or take them off, but eventually you end up back at your “natural” weight. Saying we’re a different country now doesn’t make it so. Changing the American metabolism permanently will be harder than it seems.
Already there are signs of a move back toward business as usual–signs that may only get stronger in the new year:
September 11 changed plenty in the United States, some of it permanently. But other things never change: showboating politicians, foot-dragging bureaucrats, ratings-rabid producers. If there’s more terrorism in 2002, the better angels of our nature will likely reappear in the name of national unity and purpose. If there’s no terrorism, we might well let down our guard once again. The challenge for the press, politicians and public is to get inside the heads of terrorists, anticipate where they might hit next, then plug the security holes before Al Qaeda exploits them. Complacency is our enemy, too.
