America Should Have A Longer Memory

America and Americans are famously forgiving. After a few fits and starts, our relationship with Great Britain became a pillar of our foreign policy. Our own War Of The Southern Rebellion was brutal and cruel, but aside from mostly friendly differences, we are one nation. Japan and Germany were bitter enemies, yet 10 years after WWII had ended we were well on our way to becoming loyal diplomatic and trade partners with both countries. Even Vietnam, whose conduct after we signed a treaty and left was reprehensible, is now a trading partner and a travel destination for Americans!

And terrorist groups get off just as easily. Hezbollah killed 241 Americans in 1983, and continued their attacks on America for years, yet they are still around! Iran kidnapped 66 American diplomats and kept them as hostages for 444 days, then spent the next 45 years attacking America whenever it could through its terrorist proxies (like Hezbollah!).

And we mostly just went about our business, because none of these attacks were existential threats to us, and certainly not to the homeland. Even September 11th's attacks quickly faded into the past, and instead of hunting down every al Qaeda member on earth, we mostly just droned the obvious ones. And now, even our president is lauding a former al Qaeda member as some sort of Syrian Thomas Jefferson.

But maybe that isn't such a good idea. Having a long memory of our enemies and their attacks seems to be a strong indicator of cultural and social strength. Having a commitment to punishing their transgressions against our country and people, and more importantly, never forgetting seems to be a wiser approach than our culturally embedded attitude of almost instant forgiveness.

For instance:

This flight instructor was either a moron, or was purposefully obtuse, yet the worst we did was revoke his work permit?

Vueling pilot of plane that saw Jewish kids removed was flight instructor of two 9/11 terrorists

According to his book, Marwan al-Shehhi and Mohamed Atta, hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11, respectively, were entrusted to him by the aviation academy after they “paid hefty sums of money to get the best instructors.”

Chirivellas described them as “normal,” but noted that they had an aggressive attitude, short tempers, and a strong interest in Boeing commercial flights. “I didn’t understand at the time their interest in those planes, when they couldn’t even pass the basic theoretical exams.”

Only an hour after the September 11 attacks, Chivirellas was called by the aviation academy about an FBI investigation that involved two of his students. “When it was confirmed that they performed the attack, I felt shivers down my spine.”

The official investigation declared that there was no connection between Chivirellas and the terrorists, and that he trained them without knowing their real intentions. Still, his work permit for the United States was revoked once he had to renew it after the attacks.

Israel sees these issues very differently. For instance, after the murders of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the Munich Olympics in 1972 by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September, Israel spent years chasing the organizers.

And after the catastrophe of October 7th, Israel has clearly and publicly embarked on a comprehensive program to kill every single person involved in its planning and execution. That will go a long way towards forging a national consensus, and perhaps allowing some sort of acceptance of the many failures in policy that led to the attacks.

Perhaps it is time for America to remember the many fallen, and instead of moving on, exact a price for every single American killed.

And if that means decapitating Iran? Well, as they say, revenge is a dish best eaten cold.

posted by CBD at 12:00 PM

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