Nick Jimenez

A time of fear, outrage and concern

How does one make sense of what happened on Tuesday? Because Americans are a reasonable people we want, and even need, to find a reason for everything. If we can find a reason, then we figure we can find a solution. As Americans we just figure life is a matter of solving problems.
   But where is the reason for the wholesale slaughter we witnessed yesterday? Where is the rationale that justifies hijacking four U.S. airliners, committing their passengers and crews to sure death, plunging two of those aircraft into two of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and the symbols of America's financial strength, and a third into the Pentagon, the citadel of America's military. The fourth airliner crashed in rural Pennsylvania, the intent of its hijackers, perhaps more destruction in the Washington, D.C., area, falling short.
   Such attacks are called senseless and insane. We don't understand the kind of thinking that drives a suicide bomber to kill innocent men, women and children. In our history, we have met soldiers and pilots who were so committed to their country's defense, or perhaps in their country's service, that they gave their lives willingly. But they wore their nation's uniform, and however horrific the damage they caused, their targets were other soldiers, sailors and airmen. The kamikaze pilots of World War II, after all, died in a declared war.
   But perhaps on Tuesday we finally came to understand the nature of terrorism. When terrorists kill tens of thousands of innocent Americans they are not seeking a bargaining chip or seeking some goal: they are committing mass murder, as murder is usually committed, without remorse and without any reason other than spilling blood itself.
   That is why Tuesday's act sent such a shiver of fear through every American. Like millions of other Americans who watched the horrific scenes coming out of New York City and Washington yesterday morning, my first act was to call my children who are scattered across the country. If we were helpless to save the thousands of fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters and loved ones in New York City and Washington, D.C., we wanted to assure ourselves that our closest kin were safe.
   In 1993 I flew into New York City the day that terrorists carried out an attack on the World Trade Center. Five persons died in that attack in February, 1993. But as horrific as that attack was, in the immensity of New York City, lower Manhattan might as well have been in another state. Life went on around Central Park and Rockefeller Center, if a bit more on edge. Then the Oklahoma City bombing penetrated into the nation's heartland.
   We want to put Tuesday's outrage into some perspective; we want to grab hold of an anchor; and we think it will be our sense of reason. Reason wants to find motives, even if twisted ones. That's why we keep believing in "peace talks," in the "peace process." Murder and bloodshed without reason is simply alien to us. But evil has no reason other than its own malevolence.
   Who do we attack? Who?
   In 1941, Americans were shocked and shaken to their core, just as Americans yesterday were. In the days after Dec. 7, 1941, even within hours, Americans flocked to recruiting stations to sign up for the military, eager to take action. But trying to identify our attackers today is not so clear as it was in 1941. Who do we attack? Who?
   Just as in 1941, Americans turned some new and awful page yesterday. Free and unfettered travel from one coast to the other may have ended. Our belief in the nation's institutions has been shaken. Our vulnerability is more fragile.
   In an effort to clear my head after a morning of awful scenes, I walked downtown in the afternoon. The bay was as beautiful as ever. The sky was azure as it is this time of year. But there was no escape: the Greyhound bus station was closed, its runs shut down for the day. Even here the fear of Tuesday had penetrated. There will be no escape from the horror for days, weeks and perhaps years to come.
  
   Editorial Page Editor Nick Jimenez can be reached by phone at 886-3787 or by e-mail at jimenezn@caller.com.
  
  

 
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