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 nce
again, the bin Ladenite murderers have done us an unintentional
favor. September 11 at least had the effect of showing that we were
in a war, and who our enemies were. The anthrax scare has given
us a dry run for biological assault.
Anthrax is
low on the list of deadly diseases. It can be cured with antibiotics,
and it is not contagious. The means used to spread the anthrax —
letters to media outlets and Congress, and even the Capitol Hill
ventilation system — were thus relatively small bore. The terrorists
of September 11 were investigating crop-duster planes, which would
have provided greater distribution. It is possible that some of
the letters are the work of sickos and copycats — though Iraq's
researches into anthrax and the fine grain of the most recent spores
make Baghdad a likely supplier.
The federal
government needs more vaccines available, not just for anthrax,
but for smallpox, which has true plague potential. This must be
a top priority for the director of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge.
These days all his priorities are top. That is the nature of crises;
it is the business of directors to manage them.
The administration
must also give thought to the psychological dimension of our defenses.
It is easy to understand why the FBI issued an open-ended warning
that something could happen, perhaps around October 14. If they
were telling local law enforcement, they had to tell the public
too (news might leak, and if something had happened without a general
warning, there would have been hell to pay). But people cannot simply
be plunged into a void of anxiety. The chain of command, from President
Bush on down, has to say that we are at war, and under continuous
threat; that there will be special warnings from time to time, specific
or general, depending on the information available; and that, in
the case of a general alert, everyone should be aware of suspicious
packages, vehicles, and people, and report them to the local police.
Meanwhile, everyone should continue with his life. This is the meaning
of alertness — being aware of dangers, while not giving in
to fear.
The anthrax
scare should make the administration more inclined to cast as wide
a net as possible in the war on terrorism, lest we leave the threat
alive. For the rest of us, the best response is to go out and have
a drink. Remember that the zealot in his cave has a lot more to
fear than we do.
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