Today, on its 5th anniversary, we are supposed to be remembering the victims of 9/11. Have we at some point forgotten them? That attack, which was not the first on U.S. soil, nor the last, is seared into the brain of every American and it is to the advantage of our president and his party to make sure it stays there. What we need to keep our wits about; however is not the event, but the aftermath. The media excess, the political campaign buttons. The current administration used that event to plunge this country into chaos. We were divided, intentionally I firmly believe, and we now hate, not only the terrorists, but each other. We have watched our freedoms dwindle, our savings disappear, our already tarnished world reputation turn into ash. We have put our generation and our children's future generations into a debt that will last many lifetimes. We have made a place in history that will be derided for time eternal.
As for those who were lost? They behaved admirably or they didn't. They were lost and their friends and families suffered that loss. It was a horrific way to die, but there are many horrific ways to die. We are watching some of them daily. Leftover landmines that blow the limbs off children; starvation in unconscionable numbers; genocide that seems of little importance, occurring as it does in oil-poor regions of the world; eradicated disease (eradicated in countries that can afford it); famine; drought. Do we turn our attention to those atrocities, that terrorism? Nope, not media gold, not exciting politics.
But wow, that Bin Laden! As long as he remains alive, he will keep the political fires burning. That's why (does this make sense?): Let's have a war in Iraq!! Let's destroy Iraq! Let's rain terror down on the heads of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children who had NOTHING to do with 9/11. Let's destroy THEIR lives forever (doesn't that make US terrorists?).
Now they ask us to "remember the victims of 9/11." How could we not remember? WE are the victims of 9/11.
