A historical link

By JOEL RHODES

As the images of the disintegrating twin towers were seared into the nation's collective conscious on Sept. 11, my own mind turned to history -- to another day of infamy in 1941 -- to make sense of the carnage. Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11 remain intimately connected. These images are powerful symbols of who we are. In these, our most vulnerable moments, we caught a clear glimpse of a decent and honorable people standing together. Likewise, Dec. 7 and Sept. 11 are the prisms through which their respective generations see the world.

That said, in the last five years the historical link is becoming problematic. In fairness, Franklin Roosevelt's world of the 1940s seems relatively absolute, with two tangible extremist states in Germany and Japan. By contrast, the 21st-century world is complicated and nuanced.

I hope we will not continue to squander the resolve forged by terrorists five years ago with partisanship and political demagoguery. The genius of the country lies with our talent to make mistakes, but then refocus and formulate better answers.

Joel P. Rhodes, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University.