Terrorists don’t care about pronouns, identity politics, smaller government or traditional values

What will the horrific and barbaric attack in Israel teach us?

Nothing.

After the terror attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, the promise went out far and wide: “We will never forget.” Except … we always do forget.

I knew several people lost that day, as well as some of those trying to rescue the wounded and trapped, and some of those trying to exact justice upon the terrorists. For weeks after the attack on 9/11, it seemed as if every vehicle in the U.S. was proudly flying an American flag. That unbridled pride quickly turned to awkwardness or embarrassment, and the flags were no longer displayed.

From then came the expected complacency and the forgetting of lessons that should never be forgotten.

Since that time, many in our nation, and indeed the world, have burrowed themselves deep into silos of tribalism, identity politics and even hatred for fellow Americans deemed “part of the problem.”

From that comes increased complacency, more forgetfulness, victim-blaming, in-fighting and weakness. All allies of the terrorists who do mean to do great harm.

Evil does not care what pronoun you prefer; evil does not care if you’re going to super-glue yourself to a piece of art in protest; evil does not care how many clicks you get; evil does not care if you seek to cancel someone for something they foolishly wrote back in high school; evil does not care about your calls for smaller government or traditional values.

Evil simply rejoices in the reality that by focusing on such dividers and distractors of humanity, you are taking your eye off your own personal security and that of your nation.

An evil that transcends all nations, faiths and militant factions.

An evil which seemingly has the power to wipe the memories of those who have felt or witnessed its barbarity.

Not long after September 11, 2001, every day once again became September 10, 2001. Groundhog Day for the complacent.

For some, terrorism is always academic — or even xenophobic — until it isn’t. Then they learn that terrorism is real and is always carried out by human beings identifying with a cause. Suddenly — and almost always unexpectedly — this evil rears its ugly head and destroys life as we know it in the flash of an explosion.

No matter what some may ignorantly believe, there are those in our world who seek to eradicate the life of those they oppose. An evil in the world that will eventually come for those denying its existence. An evil that cannot be justified nor rationalized.

It can only be acknowledged and fought. 

Real monsters walk this earth. They always have and always will. No amount of denial will change that. 

While terrorists revel in that which divides and distracts us, they abhor defined and secure borders; a strong and fit military; and intelligence agencies focused on their enemies, not consumed by woke domestic issues.

Months ago, I was speaking with several former military leaders about Israel seeming to take its security for granted as it got caught up in national political infighting, which clearly was dividing its people while consuming much of its attention — and appearing to make it look weaker to its enemies.

In a flash, the relatively peaceful October 6th became hell on Earth October 7th. Israel’s 9/11.

That there was a massive intelligence failure — within Israel and the United States — is an understatement. But that is not the critical failure. The critical failure remains complacency tied to siloed peoples, fueled by social media, to distrust or even hate each other on a growing basis.

In the midst of such manufactured hatred, there was a ray of hope. But that ray of hope may have been one of the catalysts for Hamas to launch its hideous attack upon Israel.

For the last several months, Saudi Arabia — which has dealt with multiple terrorist attacks in the past within its own borders — has been in negotiations with Israel to broker a larger and lasting peace deal. A deal which Iran, Saudi Arabia’s largest antagonist, would have viewed as a direct threat.

As such, some believe Iran mobilized its proxy Hamas to launch the attack. The thinking being that as Israel retaliates within Gaza, it will force the Saudis into a corner where they have to not only openly condemn Israel but abandon the peace negotiations that would have ultimately transformed the Middle East. 

Evil is as evil does. It not only kills the innocents, but it also purposely kills the hope of peace.

This type of metastasizing evil cannot be wished away, justified or ignored. It is out there.

It is September 10th all over again. We have forgotten; we are complacent; and we are divided. Evil knows it — and the clock is now ticking for us. 

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.