The Evolving Threat

It has been 5,113 days since four commercial airliners departing from east coast airports, fueled for flights to California, were hijacked. With jet fuel capacities of nearly 24,000 U.S. gallons (144,000 pounds), each aircraft effectively became an incendiary guided missile.

Has it really been 14 years?

The irony (well, one of the ironies in today’s world) is that for virtually any child not in high school, 9/11 isn’t even a distant memory anymore; it was an event that changed the world before they even entered the world. And there are plenty of high school students who were either born after 9/11 or have virtually no recollection of that date.

Heck, even this year’s college freshmen and sophomore classes were too young then to have much understanding of what had occurred. And it seems likely that before long, 9/11 will be noted purely as a historic moment, much like the Dec. 7 anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Now, it’s true there are regular reminders about that awful day; whether it be passing through security at an airport, discussing the sad state of affairs Afghanistan and Iraq veterans deal with in terms of PTSD and health care, or driving past the remains of the Twin Towers planted outside of Wellington Village Hall. Less visibly, millions of security cameras track your movements, and the government has amassed vast powers to snoop on you through post-9/11 legislation like the USA Patriot Act.

Despite this, time has lessened the impact we feel on a daily basis. The sense of fear that gripped our nation in the immediate days and weeks following the attack has dissipated, and terrorism - while still out there as a threat - has taken a back seat to the economy and other issues in the current presidential campaign. Indeed, many people believe Sept. 11 may now be the safest day to fly, given the attention airport security receives.

Relaxing our senses is a natural part of humanity, but it can be a bit scary. Terrorism should not be relegated to an afterthought. Of the many things done in the United States since 9/11, some were intelligent (such as reinforcing cockpit doors on jetliners), others not so much (the much-mocked and ignored color-coded alert system).

But after 14 years, it's time to reassess the threat and recalibrate the responses. To a large degree, the threat has evolved. It might not be as organized as when, say, Osama bin Laden was in charge of al-Qaeda, but it’s still out there, and as our attend span wanes and we follow events such as the Syrian crisis, we pay less attention to the threat that is always out there.

Dealing with terrorism is a difficult job. Our security forces are always on the defense, hoping we can gain knowledge of our enemies’ plans. But those plans can be shrouded in deception, and sometimes we don’t know what those plans are, or how seriously we should consider them. The questions remain: who, when, what?

And we hope not to be taken by surprise, or to react too slowly to make a difference.