Israel is not the problem: Bin Laden’s own words demonstrated his hatred for the West, and for America’s military presence in Saudi Arabia. He only redirected his jihad toward Israel after 9/11, in a bid for popularity. As with this year’s Arab Spring, the facts disturbed the conventional wisdom in the West. Nevertheless, many supposed experts continued buying Palestinian propaganda that solving their conflict is the key to world peace, when their future is not even the central regional challenge.Democracies are resilient: September 11 resulted from a dramatic American intelligence failure. Following September 11, Americans feared terrorism would triumph. President Bush made many significant mistakes. Yet, like Londoners in the 1940s, or Jerusalemites in the 2000s, Americans showed a grit and a grace, a unity and a sense of community, a softness in their hearts and a toughness in their spirits that ultimately defeated the terrorists and healed the country, even as over 3,000 families, friendship circles, neighborhoods and communities continue to cope with unfathomable losses.Presidencies often converge: For all their differences in tone, style and ideology, Presidents Bush and Obama have responded in remarkably similarly ways to their respective presidencies’ biggest crises. Bush looked downright Democratic in turning on the stimulus spigot to spend America out of its economic trauma. Obama has looked downright Republican in assassinating America’s enemies whenever and wherever he could. Perhaps it is worth ratcheting down the rhetoric a bit, and understanding that responsible democratic leaders often have more limited options than it seems, and that responsible leaders often act regardless of ideology.Bin Laden is dead, but Al-Qaida isn’t. These and other lessons should bring some moral clarity to the fight. Seeing problems clearly and in proportion does not make them disappear, but does make them more manageable.
The writer is Professor of History at McGill University and a Shalom Hartman Research Fellow. The author of Why I Am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today, his latest book is The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. giltroy@gmail.com