September 11, 2001
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CNN.com - Chronology of terror - September 11, 2001
I grieve for all the lives lost and torn today, and my prayers are with them.
I must voice some thoughts that may not be as popular.
George W. Bush, Jr. has been baiting for trouble ever since he was appointed President. He has now achieved his goal. He has an incident he can use to increase militarization, to impose martial law if he wants to, to make any opposition to his proposals to raid Social Security sound like a betrayal of the people who died today and their families.
Please, don't get swept up in that.
Whoever was responsible for this -- Palestinian militants, Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, or any other terrorist -- bears full responsibility for their acts and must be stopped. They have needed stopping for a long, long time. I am against the death penalty, I oppose war, I oppose violence because it is too easy a solution, if we don't have an active opposition forcing us to try any other way, humans can always solve a problem by shooting it. But in an impefect Universe, some mad dogs simply have to be shot.
At the same time, we bear some responsibility for our own situation. This does not excuse the terrorists. But if we keep acting like the U.S. can do anything the hell it wants and be answerable to no one, we will draw more fire. Innocent people, men and women and children, will die in terror and pain because politicians can't bring themselves to say, "I was wrong. I'm sorry."
Growing up is hard. Nobody does it without sufficient motivation. If your elected officials won't grow up by themselves, make them.
Don't let them simply wave the flag and rah!rah! lead you into righteous revenge for today's tragedies. Make them painfully evaluate what they did to contribute to it, from leaving counter-terrorist efforts weak while they spent money preparing for the kind of war fought last century, to failing in dialogue, provoking enemies, and not making the efforts to build the health and welfare and education of all people -- the only thing that really averts war.
Most of all -- be the change you want to see in the world.
God bless us all. God help us all.
Comments (8)
I totally agree with you. It's almost like what Iraq said- the fruit of America's crimes against humanity. Though, it's incredibly saddening to see such a thing occur. I highly doubt that the US government will "sit down" now to evaluate any course of action besides retaliation, reprisals and revenge.
I feel sorry for the children of the people who did it.
I understand most of what you say. It's not easy dealing with what I label cowardly weasel maniacs. I feel sorry for the children and men and women who died this morning and are dying in the rubble of the Twin Towers as I type.
There are wonderful long term actions we can take toward world peace and homes for all puppies and kittens (sorry, just had to say it), but in the short term, we must find out who did this and retaliate. I admire Israel for their courage and stance against stuff like this and I truly believe to do anything different gets us results like WWII when Europe tried to appease the maniac coward weasel Hitler. There is no sane approach, no reasoning. You can't talk to a psycho like a normal human being. But you can spank him (with cruise missles and not so smart bombs).
Nally, I agree that appeasement is no answer to hostility. Hitler could have been stopped at the border of Czechoslovakia if it weren't for a bunch of weasel politicians.
And terrorists could have been routed years ago if it weren't for weasel politicians who found it to their advantage to have Bad Guys out there to scare up tax dollars with.
What I'm saying is that the weasel politicians have to own up to their own responsibilty in creating this debacle, and we voters have to own up to our responsibility in letting them get away with it and stop doing so.
I don't think we disagree very far on that.
Your right Anitra. The US goverment has dropped the ball in recent years. Look at Desert Storm. All those troops the million and billions of dollars spent on a war that in the end accomplished nothing.
We didn't even take out the threat Saddam Hussein. I mean why bother if they are going to let them go with a slap on the wrist.
And then the rich countries we help demand we help pay for the damages. Which we do while people die homeless on the streets.
It doesn't make sense to me and it never will.
re above note... it seems one forgets that saddam hussein was trained and resourced by the US in the first place. hmmm. uncomfortable, isn't it.
and what about us support for the taliban when it was fighting communism? weren't these tribespeople armed and trained by Reagan???
hmmm. even more uncomfortable.
so yes. maybe, just maybe the US should stop interfering in the affairs of other countries under the guise of humanitarianism, when all that is happening is the protection of vested economic and geopolitical interests by the resident derailed superpower...
the most sensible thing i have read since the bombing.
thank you for putting it up.
sid.
Wonderful to see so many people care and want to help in their own way and anyway they can. Europe grieves too and we hope a peaceful solution can be found.
Ever hear of the Electoral College? Bush was elected, not appointed.
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