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DIFFICULT QUESTIONS PROVOKE DIFFICULT ANSWERS By Ian Tocher It's difficult to write about racing right now, knowing that for the next several weeks--probably months, even--a gruesome recovery and cleanup effort will continue in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Racing just doesn't seem important right now; not when families have lost loved ones, friends have lost friends, businessmen have lost colleagues, and quite simply, many, many lives have been shattered. When at least four bands of cowardly, heartless bastards exported their twisted vision to America, they didn't just attack the Pentagon and World Trade Center towers with hijacked airliners; they stole whatever innocence we had left. On that black Tuesday, America became part of the Middle East. Not literally, of course, and not even figuratively, but it learned first-hand about the unpredictable and deadly danger that's ever present in that part of the world. It experienced the anguish, the horror, and the grief that so often before were just a series of images on the evening news, registering only passing interest in most Americans, if any at all. That's all changed now, as on Sept. 11, we received the most terrible wake-up call imaginable. Thrust upon us was the message that we are no different than the people who live in places like Jerusalem and Ramallah, and we are not as safe as we believed, at least not any more. We were told that what happens in Israel on Monday can happen in New York and Washington on Tuesday. We learned there's more--much more--to a terrorist attack than just a 30-second soundbite. That's the lesson I hope racers, and all Americans, will carry with them as they return to the track or whatever other activities they love this weekend. Quite naturally, everyone is speaking of revenge and plotting how best to retaliate-and I agree, something must be done--but let's not forget the root of the evil. Military action without also determining some way to stabilize the Mid-East will make it far more difficult for America to wage a meaningful fight against terrorism. Without also working on long-term political solutions, a haphazard war against hostile Islamic rebels may just end up inspiring and creating thousands of terrorists where once there were hundreds. Furthermore, we've seen ample proof that these extremists clearly prefer to attack citizens over soldiers, begging the question: are we prepared for further attacks against American civilians in this country and abroad? It's easy to say we should kick some ass overseas, but on the other hand, it's not difficult to imagine a suicide bombing at a sporting event in this country--perhaps at a race--where you and I and our loved ones might be. Are we emotionally prepared to handle more civilian carnage? Are we prepared to possibly lose our own lives--or those of our mothers, or fathers, or children--to a faceless enemy? These questions are no doubt disturbing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ask them, or even treat them as alarmist. The truth is, each and every American will have to answer them on some level in the coming weeks. That's why I can't write about racing right now. I'm trying to determine
my own answers for the future.
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