If it's true that the Vietnam War dragged on so long because the sons of America's elite weren't dying in the rice paddies - effect of terrorist attacks on U.S. public - Brief Article

Washington Monthly, Oct, 2001 by Paul Glastris

If it's true that the Vietnam War dragged on so long because the sons of America's elite weren't dying in the rice paddies, then it's possible that the coming war against terrorism will be handled differently and, one hopes, better. Virtually the entire elite class in New York City and Washington, D.C.

had some direct personal experience with the horrors of September 11. Solicitor General Ted Olson lost his wife, conservative commentator Barbara Olson, in the plane that smashed into the Pentagon. CNN's Greta Van Susteren witnessed the explosion from a parking lot a mile away at Reagan National Airport. It was impossible to work in D.C. that day and not be affected by events. The offices of this magazine, two blocks from the White House, had to be evacuated, and police carrying machine guns kept the staff and everyone else out of the area for the rest of the day. And of course, things were immeasurably worse in New York, where it seems as if everyone knows someone who was killed, or at least knows their family. The Oklahoma City bombing was horrible, too, and the whole county was genuinely moved by it. But the elite experienced that event from a distance, by watching it on TV. It occurred in a city most of them had never visited, to people most didn't know. This time, it's personal.