Playing the WWII Card

Traveling through airports, as I often do, can prove to be quite an educational experience. Therein, one can engage in people watching, examine the culinary habits of corporate types and tourists, and occasionally gain insight into the mindset of one's fellow citizens -- or at least some of them. This one can do in any number of ways: eavesdropping on conversations is among my favorites, followed closely by the far less intrusive practice of examining the reading materials of other passengers, or noting which books are on the racks in the bookstores and newsstands that litter America's concourses.

Since the events of Sept. 11, entirely new dimensions have been added to the already fascinating ritual of commercial air travel. Longer lines, men with guns in camouflage, and almost constant discussion of airline safety, terrorism, and the war currently underway have become standard fare.

Perhaps it was like this even before 9/11, but lately it seems as though every guy in every plane I' ve been on is reading either a Tom Clancy novel, or one or another book by flag-waving historian, Stephen Ambrose. The hot sellers at the airport bookstores, and indeed bookstores in general, are tales of wartime heroism, with retrospectives on World War Two and the so-called "Greatest Generation" leading the pack.

This bodes well for the Bush Administration, which needs the public to continue thinking about victory and the triumph of good over evil (a constant in Ambrose's history offerings and Clancy's provincial spy stories), especially as the war on Afghanistan drags out, and weeks go by with no terrorists "brought to justice."

Listening to commentators and everyday folks discuss the current war in Central Asia, one gets the distinct impression that Americans are in fact desperate for another "greatest generation." And naturally, when the search for a new "greatest generation" swings into full gear, as it seems to have done recently, said search almost invariably focuses on military heroism. Having been fed the tales of wartime glory ever since middle school history classes, most Americans have a hard time imagining greatness decoupled from soldiering. Still reeling from the debacle of Vietnam, and not convinced that our outing in Iraq was such a great idea, many seem genuinely relieved to see their nation fighting what to them appears to be the first "just war" since World War Two.

That many are going out of their way to conjure up the justness of World War Two so as to propel the extant battle raging in Afghanistan is readily apparent. Within the first few hours after the 9/11 attacks, commentators were likening them to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Since then, Ambrose has been among the most sought after "experts" to offer analysis on network news programs, despite the fact that he has no background in the area of terrorism. And ever since writing my first criticism of the current bombardment, my email has been inundated by folks who insist that massive retaliation can work. As proof they offer up what else but World War Two: after all, it sure humbled Japan and Germany now didn't it? And whatever bombing doesn't accomplish can, according to others, be vouchsafed by way of a reconstruction of the nation after we're done strafing it, a la the Marshall Plan efforts expended to rebuild Europe after, you guessed it, World War Two.

But in truth, the world and the current situation in which we find ourselves are quite different than in the 1940's.

As for the Pearl Harbor analogy, it fails on many levels. The bombing on Dec. 7 was an act of aggression by one nation against another, with an instigator whose assets were identifiable, and whose targets for retaliation were easily located. Not so with the attackers of Sept. 11, whose identity and connections are murky, though we know that none of them were from the nation we are now pummeling, nor did most apparently spend any real time there.