So THIS got me thinking. And not about Woody Allen, either. (Thank Goodness!)

In the Grand Scheme of Things (TM), where does 9/11 fit? When historians look back from 100 years from now, how will they see that event, especially when compared to other watershed moments in history?

In terms of loss of life, the Twin Towers is barely a speck on the map; 3000 dead, 2400 injured? Compare that to 15 million during World War 2, or even 240,000 in the 2004 tsumani that hit India.

But then loss of life isn't the biggest factor. The death of one Autrian man is credited for sparking the First World War.

So perhaps the legacy of 9/11 will be told in the wars that resulted; Afghanistan and Iraq. And the final verdict on the success of those wars will not be decided for years, probably decades. And it doesn't depend on how long US troops remain, or how much money was spent, or even, in the macro sense, how many lives were lost. The success of theses wars will be determined by how long these new nations stand and what they stand for. It's the same reason I consider World War 1 a failed war and World War 2 a successful war.

Painting in such broad sweeps sounds harsh, even to me. 'Failed war' and 'Successful war' sound too much like 'Bad war' and 'Good war'. On the other hand, war at times is inevitable. And isn't a war that does not lead to further war better than a war that does. A war in which good wins and evil loses, and everyone lives happily ever after. That is until the ring is found and Sauron's eye scans the world once more. But do wars like that actually happen? It happened in World War 2. Who can agrue that the Nazis were not evil? And again in the Cold War. I'm not saying the Russian Communists were evil. But the Cold War had been waged for 35 years before Ronald Reagan took office and it was over 10 years later, and a great deal of that is because Ronald Reagan put the Cold War in those terms. Russia was the Evil Empire. It wasn't the Star Wars Defense System that ended the Cold War, it was the Star Wars Offense Metaphor. (Yes, that's right. George Lucas won the Cold War.)

So 9/11, and the ensuing rhetoric, is the catalyst for this generation, then? The 'Axis of Evil' is the 'Evil Empire' remade for the 21st century?

Boy, I need an editor, don't I? I rambled all over the place. More (and less, after editing) later.