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Moral Moments

The Mouse That Roared

by Joel Marks

The dirty little secret about the World Trade Center assault is that many Americans were impressed as hell by the skill, dedication, and effectiveness of its planning and execution. And for all the labeling of its perpetrators as “cowards,” presumably because they attacked unarmed and defenseless civilians, it is pretty clear that these men were not cowards in any conventional sense, since commandeering an airplane and then crashing it head-on into a skyscraper is not an act for the weak-at-heart.

No, the attack was brilliantly conceived and flawlessly and fearlessly carried out. A band of men figured out how to acquire the world’s largest air force, by realizing the potential of airliners to be airborne bombs. Furthermore, such an air force is even more ‘stealthy’ than the highest-tech fighter jets, for it has the perfect disguise.

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