San Francisco Municipal Railway trains were halted two nights ago due to a bomb scare. Many commuters, including yours truly, were inconvenienced. Several riders were quite vocal about expressing their irritation, not blaming the police, Muni, or Homeland Security but “terrorists”. Even our driver joined the chorus.
In a couple of months it will be the fifth anniversary of 9/11. The war against radical Islam will have lasted longer than America’s participation in World War II, and the end is not in sight. Those who think the present course in the Middle East is mistaken and/or lost may think that they know the ultimate result, that the U.S. will slink out of Iraq, beaten and exhausted.
But there is another end to the story. The President’s remaining term is two and a half years, and his past behavior shows that he’s not inclined to leave major problems for the next guy or gal to handle. (Witness the failed effort to fix Social Security, an important but not urgent issue.) He’s been compared to Harry Truman, the non-intellectual Midwesterner who was stymied by the stalemate in Korea.
But I’m thinking about the decision Truman had to make at the beginning of his term, perhaps the grimmest decision ever made by a moral leader. Hundreds of thousands died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order that many more—on both sides---might be spared the climactic battle for the Japanese homeland.
President Bush will weigh similar decisions soon in the matter of Iran, Syria, and North Korea, and many innocents may die. Somewhat ironically, the passion of his domestic opposition has given him a free hand. He’s already been likened to the worst mass murderer in history (see Godwin’s Law) so there’s nowhere for his critics to go.
We are an impatient people. Irresolution, constant fear, and perceived lack of progress have drained our confidence in our leadership. But if the sentiments of my fellow commuters are an indication, there is substantial support for a decisive, if violent solution to our problems. It may be coming. Pray for us all. © 2006 Stephen Yuen
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