9-11 in the Academic Community

Well, this is hardly surprising, given what we know of how dependent today's academic community is, of gov't funding etc.,  Academics are hardly the "warriors" who are used to living in a world steeped in the chaos of the real world.  Worse yet,  they are thinkers,  who would quickly observe that their chances of making a difference in the short term are practically nil.  Thus,  they are more "lay in wait" types than they are the ones, who can be expected to lead the charge.  Nor is that as bad a thing as one might expect it to be, since they're charged with giving their students the tools needed to evaluate things for themselves.  While at the same time,  to do so credibly,  they must maintain a stance of detachment.  Once they join the fray they appear to be partisan and thus lose some credibility.  In short,  there has to be someone holding the fort,  you can't have everyone on the front lines. 

Let's say that during WWII, would it be any less patriotic,  to stay behind and work on engineering problems,  than to go to the front?  Hardly!