Remembering…

Sixteen years ago we all remember where we were and what we were doing. It is imprinted on our brains. If we tried to forget it we couldn’t. I was working at my computer on client consulting research and report writing. It was early in the work day. Rocky had gone to work and we had finished breakfast, the kitchen was cleaned up and I was deep in concentration. 

Then Rocky called and told me to turn on the TV. A plane had hit the World Trade Center. So I did as he asked and there it was in real time. Not long after I watched in horror as the second plane hit. Later another plane flew into the Pentagon. Still later we had reports of a plane crash in Pennsylvania and all of these actions were pegged together.

We were under attack. It seemed surreal but wasn’t. This was the real thing. What it all meant would take days and weeks and then months to figure out. Soon enough it was clear. America had been attacked by Al Qaeda. In no time at all we learned what that was and still shook our heads in disbelief.

Since then we have been engaged in a ‘war on terror’ as indistinct a term as it sounds. There is no nation with which we are at war; no we are at war with an ideology maybe, a religion marginally. Islam became something we researched or Googled. We were uncertain what Islam is, and certainly no clearer on what a Muslim is. 

Hot heads claimed that terrorism was being waged only by Muslims, so clearly all Muslims were suspect. Well, not really! That was then and is now a wild over exaggeration. Ignorant people still believe it because it is easy to think and say; and it is difficult to understand, research and educate one’s self on the facts of the matter. 

Cool heads point out that terror has been waged within America by Americans as well. Just look over the list of hate groups compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The list is long and includes many religious fringe groups who spout hate against liberals, gays, lesbians and anyone who doesn’t look like them. Or think like them. Hate groups also include private militias dotting our maps from coast to coast and from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. 

The Murtaugh Federal Building in Oklahoma City was blown up by a white nationalist, white supremacist militia man. The Unabomber was a misfit white guy living in the forests. The Klu Klux Klan is a white supremacist hate group clearly out to disrupt peace and order wherever it can. Charlottesville was their most recent scene for nonsense.

So the war on terror is not all about foreign intruders or miscreants. And decidedly 9-11 was an act of hatred and revenge most of us cannot fully understand.

America is present in most international issues and has been for many generations. We have fought wars and won them, but not just for ourselves. We have done so to restore world peace for nations who could not do this for themselves. We have policed the world when asked to restore peace where it is threatened. Along the way our culture has been absorbed and adopted by many nations and not all of their citizens agree with it. Neither do all of our own citizens agree with all of our own culture! A lot of us don’t understand it; how could we agree with it all?!

So, clearly some foreigners think America has intruded on their lives unwelcome and now are upset. And we have been blamed for much that is wrong in the world. Not all of that blame belongs to America. But some of it does only because we often are not aware of what damage our culture brings to others. In our nation we know to be open to accept or reject such things, but in other lands it is not so open. No wonder some people think America brings unwanted change to their lives.

They are wrong of course. You and I don’t feel any ill will toward other nations and their peoples. We are peace loving and respectful of our differences. That is not a universal trait among our people, unfortunately. Yes, we are boorish at times and some of our people are rude and disrespectful of people who are different from themselves. But please, all of us do not deserve to be marked by those labels; we are not party to such. In fact, we often agree with foreign opinions on many topics.

So, today, we remember the 3000 lives taken from us that day sixteen years ago. We recognize the tens of thousands of people affected directly by the loss of life. The Six Degrees of Separation algorithm is at work here - 3000 yields 20,000 or more connections.

Property damage alone was great. $20 billion of rebuilding and reworked defenses were met in the following 4 years. As well we fought a war in Afghanistan that eventually cost over $1 trillion. And it is not over yet; we are still fighting the longest war in our history. The deaths, injuries and lasting disabilities continue to grow along with a mighty cost in materiel.

The 9-11 of 2001 continues to this day. But that is not what we remember today. We remember the loss of life and innocence. Nothing has been the same since that fateful day. It changed us. 

And I can’t hide from it. It is part of my life just as it is of yours.

May we never forget. But please; let’s figure out how to benefit from all this suffering. Surely we can let go of victimhood long enough to find just one little benefit to have made all of this worth it?

September 11, 2017