Considering my previous post about 9/11 & 9/12, some additional thoughts as I've read some bloggers writing about the need for the U.S. to defend itself, which means in their minds the justification of intervention in other countries.
Has anyone consider the example of Switzerland? A neutral country throughout the Cold War. A neutral country, still. A prosperous and free country. A trusted and respected country. They don't belong to the EU or NATO. They spend a lot of money on "defense," but none of their efforts are going around the world and starting wars in other places. They are surrounded by other countries, some of whom over the years have been hostile. They don't feel themselves to be victims, vulnerable, or insecure, despite the fact that they are in truly far more vulnerable than we are.
I think the first and foremost aspect of "security" is in the mind. If we feel insecure, we are going to do stupid things and act irrationally. There are those people who will play on our insecurities for their own purposes - whether they may be our own politicians or terrorist groups. As a matter of fact, the power terrorists have over us, more than not, is their ability to instill irrational fear and cause us to be other than what we have traditionally been - that which made us strong and trusted and honorable.
The terrorists groups aided by our own politicians have caused us to be what we have traditionally not been - we have become something other than strong, trusted, and honorable in the eyes of a good part of the world. Whether we ever have another physical terrorist attack on our soil or not, the terrorists have already won a good part of the battle.
