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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Dogs that don't bark |
| 2007-06-29 |
| Jonah Goldberg, National Review One of the most fascinating things about the course of human affairs, I think, is the enormous difference in potential directions life can take depending on discrete moments (which is why I do believe in the Great Man theory of history, btw). If that bomb had gone off in London, killing dozens or hundreds, British life might have moved in a remarkably different direction (though the Brits are pretty good — or bad, if you know what I mean — at shrugging off these sorts of things). The first day of the new Prime Minister's tenure is an pregnant moment to slaughter people, after all. Or look at it this way: Imagine if the 9/11 plot had been foiled through some random border guard's good fortune or diligence? How different would the last six years look? The Millennium bombing was prevented by a stroke of good luck (though the Clinton crowd crows about it). If that attack had succeeded, one can imagine that 9/11 might have been prevented, thanks to the heightened scrutiny that would have ensued. And, for all we know, Gore might have been elected president. When you start thinking about it, the wheels of history can get jammed by the smallest things, a parking ticket, a missed bus, a forgotten wallet. Anyway, the irony is that from a policy standpoint, it seems to me that security officials have to view things like the failed London bombing as basically no different than a successful bombing. But because the bombing failed, the policy options to security officials are far narrower precisely because the bombing failed and therefore didn't rouse the sort of political reaction it might otherwise have. |
| Posted by:Mike |