We managed to get past the anniversary of 9-11 without being attacked by al Qaeda or any other mysterious terrorists; the only terrorist act marking the occasion was the reappearance of part-time TV star Osama bin Laden with a new wardrobe and a little bit of shoe polish on his trimmed beard. It was impossible, however, to escape the onslaught of our own news media waxing dramatic about the sixth anniversary of that infamous date. I heard one talking head refer to September 11, 2001, as "the day that divided modern history into before and after," and that started me thinking about exactly what has changed in the past six years. I concluded that, for most of us, little has changed in day to day life. Most of the changes are in our minds; maybe we see things in a different light, but we still go about the same business in the same ways.

First change: The U.S. picked a big fight on the other side of the world, ostensibly to depose a cruel and corrupt dictator. That goal was accomplished in a matter of days, and the acting commander in chief actually proclaimed victory, but after consulting with the people who really make the decisions, he allowed as how the troops might have to stay on for awhile. Now we send our kids off to eat dust and shrapnel on the multiple fronts of a civil war which Saddam Hussein kept on a low simmer. With the US military on the scene, it’s a constant boil with no end in sight.

The perpetual war isn’t working quite like George Orwell envisioned, however, because we’re not as fully indoctrinated as the characters in 1984. Americans are seriously, flagrantly and easily duped by just about any bandit with a half coherent sales pitch, but a spark of independence remains, and that spark may be our only hope in this post-9-11 state of mind. All that jingoistic indoctrination about liberty and freedom, Yankee ingenuity and the American spirit still flickers in a few places.

The other big change is the greatest challenge to that spark. Call it Homeland Security for convenience. By definition, Homeland Security is just a federal bureaucracy which pulls the 19 known federal entities which employ spies together under one administrative umbrella. The existence of Homeland Security, per se, is not the threat. The danger lies in that state of constant fear ignited by 9-11 and shamelessly promoted by the current caretakers of the White House. If we don’t fight it out in Iraq, we’ll have to fight it out on our own shores. That’s what we’re supposed to believe, but the obvious unpopularity of the Bush Gang and its war is ample evidence of that independent streak. Even the hard core war mongers, John McCain’s voters, have to admit that it never was about Saddam Hussein and it never was about terrorism. Everyone knew all along that it was and still is the oil.

So let’s say you actually believe its okay for the US to invade and occupy Iraq to get the oil. How’s that working out for you? Americans measure all things concerning petroleum products by one standard–the cost at the pump for a gallon of regular. That measurement hasn’t changed, and it wouldn’t change even if all the oil in Iraq was pumped into barrels and stacked in warehouses in New Jersey. But so what? Maybe its stolen oil, and maybe we’re being gouged on the price, but the consequences of not having it are even worse. We’re gas junkies. We know it’s killing us and we ought to quit, but detox is really scary and really expensive. It’s even scarier since 9-11. Owning the Iraqi oil doesn’t come close to easing that fear in the back of our minds. All the homeland security in the world can’t stop suicidal fanatics from blowing us to pieces a few at a time. That fear has led us to quietly accept having our phones tapped and cameras trained on us at all times, and all the people who live to control and regiment other people are much bolder now than ever before.

Bin Laden’s latest video was supposed to be scary, too, but it actually was a bit of comic relief in the middle of the usual grim news. His spiffed up appearance shows that even a devout fundamentalist can develop a touch of vanity, especially when he becomes a world famous villain. I don’t really think this guy is living in a cave, despite his apparent genius for laying low. I heard a late night TV comic ask why it should be so hard to find a 6'7" guy attached to a dialysis machine with a turban and a ZZ Top beard. Bin Laden’s videos cause me to wonder if the guy isn’t on the Homeland Security payroll. Maybe General Petraeus’ speech to Congress wasn’t very effective, but just in time, along comes Osama to put the fear of Allah in us. He got his biggest laugh when he suggested that the solution to the conflicts in the Middle East is for all the Christians and Jews to accept Islam. Of course everyone who ever went a little too far in the name their religion has believed theirs is the one and only true belief, but most of them have approached it a little more ingeniously than just saying it on videotape. Catholic missionaries used to visit cultures they regarded as primitive and hold mass baptisms. Then they’d splash a little holy water around and say, "Domini, domini, domini; you’re all Catholics now." The industrial approach to evangelicism.

The latest war spin from the White House is that The Gang actually is planning troop reductions in Iraq for next summer. This teaser coincides with Petreaus’ pitch to Congress that the war is going well and he just needs more time. Deeper in the story, you’ll read that the reduction planned for next summer is simply to bring home the additional 30,000 troops that were dumped on the sand last January in the "surge." Unless there’s a surge in that old American independent streak, about 140,000 troops and uncounted mercenaries, which we call "independent contractors," will continue to hold Iraq and its oil by the throat until the last drop is drained.