Hurricane al Qaeda

Hurricane al Qaeda

John L. Perry
Monday, Aug. 16, 2004

What Hurricane Charley did to little Punta Gorda is just a taste of what Osama bin Laden would do to American cities, small or large.

Similarities and dissimilarities between natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and forest fires and terrorist attacks on a 9/11 scale are worth noting.

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Nature’s calamities and those inflicted by evil maniacs share many of the same attributes:

Unanticipated shock intrudes upon complacency and denial.

There is a kind of dumbbell denial of the reality that disaster may strike any community that wraps victims-to-be in cocoons of complacency, whether the threat is from nature or al Qaeda.

Depth and diversity of the mass destruction are at first unbelievable, then overwhelming.

Survivors walk around in a zombie-like trance, unable to believe what they see.

“It’s like the end of the Earth.”

“I don’t know what to do, where to turn.”

Panic is followed by finger-pointing followed by acrimony.

“Why didn’t we get more warning?” “Help was slow in coming.”

Destruction, injury, pain and death are followed by mental anguish, confusion and desperation.

“Why did this happen to me?”

“Others got more assistance than I did.”

“All the other taxpayers should make me whole again.”

Then comes a remarkable, redeeming outpouring of compassion and love for others, even from total strangers.

People’s faith in humanity and a renaissance of their own religion spring up everywhere. Healing and rebuilding begin to take place. Selflessness overtakes selfishness.

Next there is a contagious community and national coming together.

“We’re not going to allow anything like this ever to happen again.”

Yet, in only too brief a time, that resolve and togetherness begin to evaporate.

Personal preoccupations return. Selfishness crowds out selflessness. Memories grow short. Recent history is busily being rewritten. Charlatans seek political advantage.

The leftist-press scavenger crabs come scurrying in to feast on whatever flaws in disaster recovery they may find or manufacture, in their mission to discredit President Bush.

The stage is set once again for natural disaster to strike or terrorist attack to be struck.

However, not everything about nature’s calamities and those inflicted by evil maniacs is the same:

Prevention and preemption

Hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes are not preventable. Floods and fires may be only moderated.

Terrorism attacks may be prevented, but this has to be done preemptively.

You may be reduced to bracing yourself as best you can when a hurricane heads your way, but you don’t have to wait to be attacked by al Qaeda. It is possible, though not easy, to go after the evil at its source.

This is the doctrine of preemption President Bush has been implementing and John Kerry has been second-guessing, ridiculing and disavowing.

Backbone

No amount of strong, unwavering political leadership is capable of sending a Category 4 hurricane back where it came from. But it is possible for political courage and determination to reduce – and eventually eliminate – the likelihood of a major terrorist attack on the American homeland.

Facing reality

Even if every American could be educated on the perils of natural disasters, that still would not stop one single hurricane from coming in from the Azores. But if this nation wakes up to the reality that it is at war with terror – the largest and most-threatening war in its history – that will indeed help to shield even the smallest community from becoming an al Qaeda target.

It’s a terrible thing that happened to Punta Gorda and its 14,000 residents. As that town on the Peace River in Florida got its brief moment in the mass-comm spotlight, uneducated telecasters added insult to injury by grossly mispronouncing its name, so rich in history.

First it was Poon-ta Gorda, instead of the correct Punt-a (as in football) Gorda. Then (if you can believe this), it got repeatedly mangled into Porta Gunta. Don’t those children they let play with microphones even know where on the face of this planet they are?

Sturdy Survivors

A host of wonderful people have made their homes in Punta Gorda. Many settled there for their twilight years, only to grow younger in spirit. Their enthusiasm for this rejuvenation is matched by the rugged pride of “crackers” several generations deep.

Together, they are paying a horrific price for just being there. You may bet it doesn’t make them feel one whit better for their anguish to be hung out on the clothesline of television news – while their town is being mispronounced.

But what happened to those Punta Gordans is in a cruel way a priceless gift to the rest of America. It is a sorely needed wake-up call to get real, to drop the absurd denial, to comprehend what disaster can mean, to face the reality that this president is doing his dead-level best to protect the nation from a threat far worse than anything Hurricane Charley could throw.

A Taste of Terror

The overarching reality is that terrorism is exponentially more sinister, more inimical than any natural disaster.

What radical Islamist terrorists are intent upon doing to any American city, or cities, of their choice is unspeakably more horrible than what nature just got through inflicting upon a small town in Florida.

When you watch the television footage of the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, think of it as Osama bin Laden’s calling card – handed to you in your own home town.

John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com.

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