While America Sleeps

WHILE AMERICA SLEEPS

this week provided more instances of the surreal disconnect that exists between the danger that america faces and the government's and the polity's complacency about the post-911 world.

vice-president cheney said this week that another catastrophic attack on america was "all but certain." fbi director robert mueller said that sucide bombings against the united states were "inevitable." and yet a voters poll found that most americans were more concerned with the economy an social security than with islam's war against us.

the result of this disconnect is that more american innocents will needlessly die. office workers will burn to death, given just enough time by the enemy to call their loved ones in terror to say "i love you" one last time and goodbye.

american schoolchildren, on buses carrying lunch boxes and backpacks, wil be dismembered and slaughtered by kamikaze footsoldiers of the jihad.

and the american public, confused and bereft of leadership and the bush administration, confused and devoid of leadership, will continue to see this as a "war" with al queda extremists.

rep porter goss of florida, the head of the house intelligence committee saidn this week that new attacks will come not just from al queda but from hamas and "a number" of other regiments of the islamic army. but it has not sunk in. america sleeps.

the public continues to give presidet bush hgh marks for his handling of the war, even as its top officials acknowledge tht further attacks ae coming and even though, after more than eight months, we still do not have osama bin laden and the taliban leader in custody.

the truth is that the islamic world has long been mobilized against america but this has been downplayed or ignored because of our dependence on islamic oil and the unfamiliar way by which islam is waging and has waged war.

our "friends" in saudi arabia, one of the most repressive states in the world, produced more of the 911 hijackers than any other country. the saudi royal family maintains power by giving its mullahs free rein to inoctrinate its citizens in islamic war against jews and americans.

a post-911 visit by a new york times reporter to our "friends" in pakistan similarly showed the shockingly virulent anti-semitism and anti-americanism which the next generation of muslims will be inculcated with. they tteach their schoolchildren that all non-believers are sub-human and war should be waged on them.

so it is not just a sick interpretation of the koran by a band of extremists that is responsible for the hatred of america. it is the sanctioned teachings of "friendly" islamic governments that has produced it. a thousand years ago christianity fought a crusade against islam, and won. in our time we have been in cold war with iran for 25 years, we have fough a hot war against iraq, we have, and continue to, label other muslim states like libya and syria as states that sponsor terrorism, and yet---we are told by our president that "this is not a war with islam."

the attacks on us will continue, and could bring our economy and culture to their knees while this is the accepted version of events, while america sleeps.

-benjamin harris