The Christian Century

Canadian lawyer Kerry Gearin is planning to fly to Washington, D.C., this summer for a conference on Islamic family law, but the full-body scanners being deployed in some U.S. airports make her wonder if she’ll be forced to leave her modesty at home.

Five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice say they’re working more with Muslim, Sikh and Arab communities to improve relations and address matters of safety and civil rights.

America is at war. This is a wartime national security strategy required by the grave challenge we face—the rise of terrorism fueled by an aggressive ideology of hatred and murder, fully revealed to the American people on September 11, 2001. This strategy reflects our most solemn obligation: to protect the security of the American people.

Congressional leaders from both parties responded quickly to White House approval of a deal that allows Dubai Ports World company, owned by the United Arab Emirates, to control shipping operations in New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, New Jersey, Baltimore and Miami. A few days later, Congress woke up to the reality that corporate takeovers are commonplace in our global economy.

If President Bush were running for reelection, he would probably be opposed to letting an Arab company run six American ports. He would use Karl Rove's game plan for electoral success: run on national security, and stress that you, unlike your opponent, understand the ruthlessness of terrorists and the gravity of threats in the post-9/11 world. Many members of Congress seemed to be mindful of Rove’s advice as they blasted away at the Bush administration for allowing Dubai Ports World to manage shipping terminals in the U.S.
In this case, the Bush administration has taken a nuanced view of national security, one that argues that long-term security depends on good relations with the Arab world and on the ability to foster alliances in the Middle East.

Speak of nightmares! I dreamed that on a below-zero day my garage-door opener failed. Bundling myself in down until I looked like a Green Bay Packer fan, I braved the wind and went in through a side door. I had to remember how to pull the rope for manual lifting, all the while practicing new imprecations for the garage-door makers.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a dangerous world. We don’t know whether, when or where terrorists will strike again. If elected, I will do all that is humanly and humanely possible to protect this nation and its people. But I must level with you: there are no guarantees of safety. And the search for absolute security is itself full of risk.

The commission investigating the 9/11 attacks has heard plenty of complaints about the failure of U.S. counterterrorism. Officials have described agencies as underfunded and understaffed. The CIA and FBI worked with outdated technology and few experts on Middle East languages. Above all, they were weak on sharing information, even within their own agencies.