Remembering 9/11 – Do we really remember?
Twelve years really does seem like a lifetime. As we pause and remember those few individuals who died before 8:46 a.m. ET, and the many who died after, I just have to wonder if we’ve learned anything – and if what we have learned has been forgotten.
Most of us are physically far-removed from the devastation 12 years ago, but emotionally – as a citizens of the greatest country in the world – we were all together that day.
The act of terror on Sept. 11 was new. It was unique. On that day we were introduced to a new war, one that would never be fought against a specific country or countries; against men and women in uniforms. We would soon be fighting an extreme ideology with no borders or uniform. To this day, I have no idea how any country can best fight radicals associated with Islamic fundamentalists. The bad guys hold the innocent as human shields, both figuratively and in reality. When the innocent have nowhere to go, you’ve got issues.
Recently, were experiencing the downstream impact of an enemy who is not clearly defined. Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, is simply stating “it was not him” when it comes to the obvious use of chemical weapons, and since current protocol seems to require a signed affidavit with a video confession by Assad himself that he “did do it,” little can be done. A quagmire if you will. I wrote about this 364 days ago.
Any major attack – including conventional, nuclear or biologic – against the United States or allies in the region will not be from a defined, established government in the region. The State of Iran would probably never send a missile into Israel, and if they did, it would be blamed on an outlier group who was not affiliated with the government. In other words, it would be a terrible tragedy that was some sort of mistake. They would be sorry. Somehow, a radical Islamic fundamentalist group – an outlier – got control over a weapon and used it. The official government leaders would be ashamed. They would promise to root out the evil in their country. The diplomats would go to work again.
Take my quote from a year ago, and see how it matches up to what is happening in Syria? I pray we do not, but we certainly may see more of this. In this new war, we’re fighting with both hands tied behind our back. What will the future hold?
Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001, the individuals in the military who have given up so much and died, and the families of military men and women to whom we are all indebted.
Never Forget.
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Sadly, Americans have forgotten September 11, 2001. The ironic thing is that NOW with talks of President Obama wants to attack Syria, Americans are having to have to LEARN once again the NEED to NEVER FORGET.
The denizens of the People’s Repbublic of Amherst, MA *choose* not to remember, allowing residents to raise flags commemorating 9/11? only every five years (and this isn’t one of them).? See http://www.wwlp.com/news/local/hampshire/amherst-will-not-display-911-flags
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Of course, what can you expect of a town that had the unfortunate timing to be condemning the American flag on 9/10/01, in particular, one UMASS physics professor Jennie Traschen, who stated (during Select Board meetings on regulating the flying of the flag) that “It’s a militaristic symbol.? The U.S. flag is a symbol of terrorism and death and fear and destruction and repression.”? (http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0901/0901flag.htm)
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In Amherst, Traschen is not an anomaly, but thankfully, Amherst is, even in MA.
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on 9/11/01, I remember feeling horror, fear, despair, anger and then hope as a fractured nation rallied together. Now, we wrestle with a “civil” war, in the US, with the emphasis on PC civility instead of weaponry. For these 11 years, we have waged an “unbelievably small” “pinprick” war of words. While our troops wage a real war with “shupport” and little support from the WH. Then on 9/11/12, we were shaken again, by a despicable attack in Benghazi and the shameful words of ?our President calling it a “phony scandal”. Ironically, POTUS has united us again, center right and far left, Libertarian and conservative over whether to wage ?yet another war. Dare I hope, that we have finally learned,the United States and it’s allies are mostly morally superior. Radical Islamists are evil. Let Syria wage their own civil war and we can rebuild our nation. When or if they strike another nation, we can reevaluate. Never forget either 9/11.
When you sit and think about it, many lefties think that 9/11 was a “phony terrorist act”, in view of the “Bush knew”, “steel can’t melt” etc….
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I guess it is only a scandal if the Koch brothers are involved!
Never forget.