Mr. Colwell's piece

(South Bend Tribune, 9/11/05)

"Who gets last laugh? So far, it's bin Laden hands down"

Osama bin Laden, that murdering jihadist who wishes ill for all of us, must be a very happy guy on this fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our nation.

If he feared that our expenditures and planning for homeland security would lessen the impact of the next terrorist strike, he must have exchanged high-fives, or engaged in whatever jihadists do to celebrate, as he and his buddies watched the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans destroyed.

Bin Laden has dreamed of destroying an American city. Aware now of the bureaucratic bumbling in preparations for and the aftermath of Katrina, he surely is encouraged that he can indeed someday soon take out another of our cities without any help from a hurricane.

The political babbling here must give him cause for hearty laughter.

Some partisan commentators actually suggest that Louisiana got what it deserved because it elected a Democratic governor.

Some political partisans on the other side actually suggest that Louisiana got what it deserved because it went Republican for President Bush.

No laughing matter, except for a guy like bin Laden.

He can rejoice that all the finger-pointing in seeking to affix blame for 9/11 apparently has not done much to find solutions for dealing with a homeland disaster. We don't have enough fingers to point at all the mistakes in dealing with Katrina. And what good is pointing, if those pointed out are not replaced and if the problems pointed to are not solved?

Katrina was a threat spotted out in the Gulf way in advance. Bin Laden plans no warning. He will seek again, as on that day four years ago when terror struck out of the blue, out of beautiful blue skies, to provide another surprise. If we can't cope, even with days of warning, how will we cope with the next surprise disaster?

Cartoonists like to portray bin Laden as a bedraggled and sickly figure holed up in a dark, spider-filled cave somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan, cowering helplessly. If only it were so.

Living in a cave, if that's where he is today, is no hardship if you don't care about comforts we enjoy, if you still can frustrate those who hunt you and if you still find ways to dispatch orders to do evil to those you despise. And any cave abode no doubt has been pretty nicely furnished by now by his loyal backers in jihad.

Bin Laden must laugh a lot at how he has been able for so long to avoid capture by the most powerful nation ever.

He probably never expected to survive so long. Nor does he necessarily care that much, convinced as he is that his death will bring martyrdom, rally jihadists for ultimate victory and provide the rewards he anticipates in heaven.

Too often we fail to understand that our views and values are not his.

Sometimes bin Laden is pleased with our success. He surely was delighted when our invasion of Iraq took out an infidel he hated, Saddam Hussein, and those Baathist unbelievers who had rejected and cruelly suppressed creation of an Islamic state.

Now, he is delighted that terrorism flourishes in Iraq, with hope for civil war that could lead to an Islamic state of the Iran type. We dare not leave Iraq with the job unfinished, but do we know how to finish it? He must laugh at our dilemma. Can we keep bin Laden from having the last laugh?

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how our best and brightest to react to new terror includes the Arabian Horse Association guy who heads FEMA. Does al-Qaida have incompetent patronage appointees, too? Do they have a lot of bureaucratic paperwork before they can strike?

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how Congress prepared for the long-feared New Orleans disaster by cutting requested funds for frills like stronger levees.

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how we play the blame game now, making more divisive the split between the red states and the blue states. In disaster time, couldn't all the states be red, white and blue?

How bin Laden must laugh, contemplating how racism brings hatred in our homeland. Some see racism where it played no part. Others refuse to see it where it was a factor.

It's nice to spread happiness. But to bin Laden, that murdering jihadist?

As we head beyond the fourth anniversary of 9/11 terror, can't we finally handle homeland security in a way that won't have Osama bin Laden laughing? Or is the plan to cause him to die laughing at us?

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by e-mail to jcolwell@comcast.net.