HOW IS THIS "AMERICA'S GREATEST THREAT"?

I wish I'd had the opportunity yesterday to live-blog Peter Bergen's appearance on This Week. The bottom line is, the veteran terrorism analyst for CNN asserted that much of what the Bush administration has done during the "war on terror" (he specifically referenced torture and rendition) has been counter-productive.

The statement I thought most speaking, though, was something to the effect that during the U.S.A.'s more-than-200-year history we've faced much greater dangers and crises and have not found it necessary, or efficacious, to resort to policies such as illegal domestic spying, torture or rendition to defend our nation. Bergen noted that 9/11, while a terrible event, pales in comparison to the threats of the Axis powers in WWII and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In both cases, we were countering nations with the resources to actually destroy the United States. Al Qaeda, he asserted, doesn't. So why should "9/11 change everything"?

Amen.

Tags: Bush, Peter Bergen, war on terror