Fears of liquid bombs exploding in passenger jets and memories of imploding buildings in a new movie about the five-year-old terrorist attacks got me thinking this week about our three daughters.
Is this what their lives will be like? Bombs and death, terrorism threats, endless government warnings?
Our girls woke up Thursday excited about their first day of school. The promise of seeing friends and meeting teachers had them scurrying around the house.
They didn't notice my quiet worry. The news reports that English authorities thwarted a possible airline terror attack had dampened my enthusiasm.
That and Wednesday's national rollout of the movie "World Trade Center" by Oliver Stone brought back sad and scared memories of Sept. 11, 2001. The suspected plot by English-born Muslims to wreak havoc in the skies from the United Kingdom to the United States underscore the reality that global terrorism has become — and will continue to be — part of our lives.
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Terrorism will be for our daughters what communism and the threat of global atomic annihilation was for me as a child. We lived with constant talk of war and death.
As a baby boomer, I can remember the national nervousness over our impending doom brought by the Russians. It was duck and cover.
If it wasn't the Russians, it was the Chinese. Later it would be the Cubans.
Our government made sure we didn't forget our nation was ripe for an attack. Official reminders, made through the media, seemed to flow constantly.
I can still recall the wail of the siren coming from somewhere near Downtown every Saturday morning — a reminder that foreigners were out to get us. I can still see the yellow and black signs posted in public buildings or the old YMCA on East Fifth Street, reminding us bomb shelters were nearby.
I was born three years after the Korean War ended and was in grade school during the Vietnam War.
Our daughters will live through similarly troubled times.
They will see real wars and endure threats of wars that may never break out. They will receive heavy doses of xenophobia wrapped in the American flag. They will be constantly reminded of 9/11, often for personal gain by politicians.
On top of that, I fear, the girls will live in a country where privacy and civil liberties will be weakened in the name of fighting terrorism.
President Bush has made government secrecy sacrosanct. Our daughters will learn not to trust our country if subsequent administrations tighten the knot on information.
They will also learn dissent is not allowed if they object. The Bush administration has perfected the "swift-boating" of its critics — civil libertarians, anti-war critics and liberal commentators — casting them as unpatriotic.
Many people are more than happy to give up their rights or see rights taken away from other citizens if this means terrorists will be caught or stopped.
The government spying and eavesdropping may be aimed at noncitizens today, but what about tomorrow? I don't want my daughters to be on that slippery slope.
Neither do I want them to be on an airplane, a train or a building blown up with a bomb. I want them to be able to travel in this country free of worry.
They'll be able to handle inconvenience at the airport with extra precautions and inspections, as long as they're done fairly and equitably.
Just leave the paranoia out.
Opinion by
Ernesto Portillo Jr.
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