Long Term Results

From what I’ve read, the small proportion of permanently disabled and/or disfigured individuals from the September eleventh attacks is unusual. (Small, but not non-existent.) For wars and terror attacks, the norm is reflected in the numbers for the Iraq War and for the Madrid bombings: the amount of injured far outnumber that of the dead.

Way back in 1998, in the aftermath of the Al Qaeda-perpetrated attacks on the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, my sister alerted me to the plight of the maimed: hundreds of Kenyans, Tanzanians and Americans (collectively) were killed, but thousands (5000 just in Kenya) were horribly maimed.

Think of that context when you’re considering the dead Coalition Soldiers and the dead Spaniards, Russians, Turks, Saudis and—most heart-wrenching because it never seems to have an ending—Israelis.

If you survive a bombing, what kind of disabling injuries are you likely to carry away from it? Full-thickness (third-degree) burns, amputations (and not just of limbs), blindness, deafness, brain injuries, permanent paralysis; pretty much the entire gamut of injuries that will alter, possibly ruin, a life.

This morning Fox News featured two permanently disabled American soldiers; one with brain injuries, the other, a quadriplegic. The former, injured by shrapnel to the back of his head, is so changed in looks and demeanor that his younger son (three) does not recognize him and is afraid of him. And one doesn’t have to do too much guessing about the challenges of the latter, a young, married man with no children.

I submit (again) that it’s not the deaths—horrid as they seem to the living—that are the most horrendous results of terrorist acts.

*****

Will Spain wilt under the pressure, under the terror? Today's scheduled election in Spain indicates that they may have. But most of the public was never for Spain's role in the Coalition of the Willing in the first place. It's difficult to fault the Spaniards for today's repudiation of outgoing Prime Minister Aznar's party. The enemies of civilization aren't totally without strategic comprehension.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Keep watch, fellow Americans, in late October, early November.

Comments

[Virginia]

Baldilocks, just looked at the photos from the brunch. You're beautiful! And also a blast to read. Keep blogging, you're great.

[Kevin Baker]

Weren't the moonbat fringes of the Left claiming that the bombings came suspiciously close to the elections in Spain and would be a BENEFIT to Aznar and his party?

I wonder what their explanation is now?

(No I don't. I'm sure I really don't want to know. Honestly.)

[Mike O]

I, too, looked at the brunch photos and thought;
my what a beautiful smile.
As for the Europeans, they take the course of least resistance. Sometimes, it works and the problem goes away. Sooner or later they will figure out that this isn't one of those times.

[Mike O]

Guess I painted with too broad a brush when I said Europeans. Apologies to the Scandinavian countries, Eastern Europe(strong statement from Poland) and the Brittish, and many in countries where their view is in the minority who see that terrorism is a world wide problem and it's not going away on it's own.
I, also, understand that Europe has been dealing with terrorism for a good deal longer than we have and that communist sponsered terrorism went away with the demise of the Soviet Union. This one just isn't going away anytime soon.

[StinKerr]

Keep an eye on the British elections too. Not sure when that's going to be. Tony gets to call them.