Why Not Here?

Eugene Robinson wonders why the US has not seen the same attempted attacks as Britain. He offers one (scary) reason that I suspect is right: our enemies are not going to waste time or resources on such smaller scale things as car bombs. They are biding their time until they can top September 11.

But, in this gloomy time for the Republic, when the president has squandered the good will of the free world and sacrificed our ideals on the false altar of security, Robinson finds something positive to think about this Fourth of July:

The radical, anti-Western, jihadist ideas that inspire would-be suicide bombers in Britain and elsewhere in Europe have a much harder time finding receptive ears here -- even though it's the United States that many Muslims around the world believe is leading a modern-day crusade against Islam. I know there are Muslims here who are bitterly angry about U.S. foreign policy under George W. Bush but who do not respond by killing themselves and others.

I think that's because the United States, for all its faults, is still the most inclusive society on Earth. Our nation has a way of making outsiders into participants, a way of convincing people that they are protagonists, not just pawns. The United States can fall short of its promises, but it has a genius for manufacturing possibility. If people have even a glimpse of a better tomorrow, no matter how unbearable today might be, they are less likely to pack a car with explosives and crash it into an airport.

Robinson is on to something -- our first and best defense is our freedom and democratic ideals. Abandoning those is giving true aid and comfort to the enemy. You could learn something here, Mr. Bush.