Staying on Target

At the urging of a friend, and with a reflection to offer 56 middle school boys and a dozen young teachers at morning assembly tomorrow, my thoughts on a recent piece of news. As a reminder, these thoughts are entirely my own, and should not be taken to reflect the broader views of any constituency to which I belong.

As a sophomore at Dartmouth, I was in Hanover, New Hampshire on September 11, 2011; I had just begun my orientation for my duties as an undergraduate advisor for a floor of first-year students. Some of my residents were late arriving because of the disruption to air travel caused by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and I later learned that one of my friends was flying at the time; her plane was grounded for days before she could complete her journey to New Hampshire. I distinctly recall the palpable shift in the mood on campus, not only as the Dartmouth community came together to begin that fall term in a way no one could have imagined, but also as we considered what the legacy of the terrorist attacks would mean for our country and our future role in it. In the following weeks and months, targets emerged: specific countries, groups, and individuals with ties, whether factually claimed or persuasively purported, to the unprecedented attacks of that terrible day. It seemed straightforward: target those who targeted us. Bring to justice those who caused such unjust violence and suffering.

Now, nearly ten years later, Osama bin Laden is dead. An initial, identifiable, and enduring target of the war on terror is checked off. But what noble aims have we missed in the past decade? Our country has seen two rather different presidential administrations and several election cycles marked by both inspiring rhetoric and frightfully venomous verbal sparring. Particularly in the South, citizens of our country have suffered natural and unnatural disasters that have highlighted troubling socioeconomic and racial divisions, as well as an indomitable sense of perseverance and solidarity that spans those chasms. Greed and fear compete with generosity and hope in our attitudes towards business, community, our neighbors, and those who wish to be our neighbors.

Our soldiers continue to generously offer staggering, sacrificial service to us and our country, whatever each of us may think about the wars and campaigns in which we're involved abroad. Good people continue to labor in schools, hospitals, fire stations, and churches to educate our young, tend to our sick, protect our lives and property, and nourish our souls. Yet so much work remains to be done. Vanquishing threats of terror from abroad ought to be matched by resisting and reducing violence in our cities. Investing in the defense of our nation should be mirrored by investing in the health and future prospects of all its people. We must not limit ourselves to finding and eliminating targets that threaten us; we must earnestly seek and accomplish goals that will enliven us. Then we can truly celebrate the accomplishment of some very worthy missions, undertaken by special forces within our communities, our homes, and our hearts.