The Business Journal has been asking prominent Orange Countians to share their impressions and opinions of the terrorist attacks and the aftermath. John Moorlach and Mike Danzi responded with essays that we thought deserved to be run in their entirety. Moorlach is a CPA and the treasurer-tax collector of Orange County. Danzi is CEO of medical testing company US Labs in Irvine; he was born on Wheelus Air Force Base in Libya and served as a Naval officer aboard a nuclear submarine.
Liberties, Resolve Under Fire
Things we can count on:
Rethinking warfare.
Generals (and countries) are always prepared to fight the previous war, e.g. France’s defensive Maginot line built after WWI. We are faced with a radical new type of war. This will be a multi-year conflict that will be less like state-against-state and more like trying to kill cockroaches. Our enemies will be elusive and there may be many more attacks and counterattacks, abroad and at home.
Conflict will include the use of high technology weapons we used in the Gulf War,Tomahawk missiles, smart bombs and precision attacks from air and sea platforms. But, importantly, it will require the use of highly trained special forces units, such as Navy SEALS and Army Rangers, to make attacks on foreign soil. Use of ground forces will have to be balanced by opinion polls and potential casualties, but are necessary to the war effort.
Look for substantial military and law enforcement investment in surveillance and intelligence technologies. Military intelligence will require additional platforms such as more submarines (watch for ballistic missile submarines being converted to carry Tomahawk missiles and SEAL teams), and the expansion of human intelligence networks that have been in decline over the past generation.
Curtailing of personal and civil liberties.
Technologies exist that seem Orwellian, such as the equipment law enforcement officials used at Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa to secretly scan spectators’ faces with surveillance cameras and instantly compare their “faceprints” against those of suspected terrorists and known criminals in a computerized database. Terrorists are known to use the Internet to communicate using encryption technologies, which can be countermanded by a determined government effort to monitor its citizens. Despite the specter of Big Brother spying on citizens, our expectations of privacy will be reduced and our government will become comfortable monitoring citizens to an unprecedented extent.
More difficult travel.
Look for the civilians who staff the airport security counters to be replaced by well-armed and trained soldiers and marshals. Increased difficulty with air travel and border crossings will lead to increased costs, general reduction in economic efficiency and reduced prosperity.
Resolve.
The resolve of the American people will be severely tested. The people of the United States will have to maintain their strength in the face of CNN reports of refugees fleeing attacks by our country. The sights and sounds of war will be transmitted to our living rooms, and this will test our will to fight our elusive enemies.
Resiliency of the American people.
You can count on the diverse American people to come through this ordeal united with a sense of purpose, and we will be stronger as a nation, as we embrace our common love of liberty, freedom and democracy.
Like OC’s Collapse but Bigger, Bloodier
For someone who recently enjoyed the glorious view from the outdoor observation deck of the World Trade Center with his wife and three children and who deals with so many financial institutions in Manhattan, this tragedy was very upsetting. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been impacted.
The ongoing news reports have described the site of the devastated Twin Towers as “ground zero.” This reminded me that I now work at a former “ground zero,” the Orange County Treasurer’s office. In the wake of the tragic events of Sept. 11, many similarities rushed back to my mind, including memories of the media attention and the empathy of many residents. Our experience pales in comparison, for in Orange County we had no loss of life, thank God. But we had an internationally felt financial implosion and some even made remarks about the “crater” that was left.
For me the magnitude of the WTC catastrophe stood out. Never before have we seen so many civilians murdered by a terrorist attack. The municipal world had never seen a $1.64 billion loss before, either, breaking the previous record some thirteen-fold. In fact, if we were to do bar charts on these two nation-shaking occurrences, we would have the “twin towers” of statistics.
Just as so many are rushing to help in New York City, numerous civic leaders assisted the county’s work force by jumping into the bankruptcy fray. Together they worked to assess the damage, structure a recovery plan, coordinate legislative efforts and pursue criminal and civil litigation. Every county department hunkered down and their employees made financial sacrifices to restore the county.
Six-and-one-half fast years later Orange County is stronger. We are still shell-shocked and occasionally overreact to financial bumps in the road. But we are more cautious, with better budgets, business plans and long-term strategic financial forecasts. We also have conservative investment strategies and multiple layers of oversight.
Likewise, the United States will survive and see a new day. Orange County proved that individual and collective recuperative efforts are accomplished in a speedy manner. This country will have more layers of procedures. But its focus will be on rebuilding. And, just as we moved from a recession into economic recovery subsequent to the bankruptcy, we can hope for that to occur again.
What will change is heightened persecution of Islamic zealots who are willing to sacrifice their own lives in the pursuit of harming others perceived to be supportive of Israel. The imbroglio of the Middle East has boiled over to our shores and it is a battle that has continued through the millenniums between Isaac and Ishmael, the sons of Abraham. I do not expect it to be pretty or to end soon.
Just as in Orange County’s fiasco, there are plenty to blame for the hijackings. Ironically, I will refer you to a book written in 1999 by a casualty of this conflagration, Barbara Olson, entitled “Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton.” It is time for many of us to see things as they really are. As a tribute to a victim, reading this book would be a good first step.
We must remember that America is unique. It is the first nation in history to afford citizenship to all based upon a unified belief, not based on one’s ethnicity, religion or heritage, but on freedom. As a naturalized citizen, my hope is that this common vision of the U.S.A. will shine as never before.
