Casting Events of Sept. 11 as Acts of 'War' Has Catastrophic Implications, Says UB Historian

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The popular response to the events of 9/11 has been wholly appropriate, moving and important, says historian Michael Frisch, but now the "war" metaphor is being used at the policy level to justify actions whose consequences place the U.S. and its people in greater and greater danger.

"Casting those events as acts of 'war' has had increasingly catastrophic and ominous implications," according to Frisch, professor of American history and senior research scholar at the University at Buffalo.

"It has been used, for instance, to justify the United States acting like a behemoth that can do whatever it wants and throw its power anywhere against any real or potential enemy.

"The problem," he says, "is that the targets of our wrath then feel justified in using their weapons of choice and natural advantages to preemptively attack us, which is, of course, exactly what 9/11 was all about in the first place."

There is no doubt that the terrorist attacks were atrocious crimes against humanity and that they call for an appropriate and aggressive response, says Frisch, who supports the campaign in Afghanistan. "But as this lunatic gear-up for an invasion of Iraq makes clear," he says, "linking 'terrorism' and 'war' is precisely the wrong thing to do."

Frisch explains that once the U.S. says it's at "war," it assumes the right to employ whatever weapons and powers it has at hand. Once anyone imagines someone or something to be "Evil," they assume the right to use those weapons and powers to act preemptively against them.

"The other side, who in this case are lunatic fanatics, then assumes the right to do exactly the same thing, attack the Pentagon, for instance," he says, "because they think a 'regime change' in the U.S. is a good idea.

"Instead of 'war' being used as a way to conceive of and justify our response to terrorism, terrorism has become a way to conceive of and justify waging war. It's the oldest, most tired game in history and precisely the opposite of an appropriate response."