(Especially in light of President Obama's big announcement on Isis last night, I figured now's a good time to rerun this piece from September 11, 2011. I'll have more on the President's plan to take on Isis later today.)
September 11, 2001, is a day I can't forget... Even though it was a day that seemed to start like so many others had. While I was getting ready for school, America's beating economic heart and central political nervous system were under attack. And as I was starting what I just thought would be my second day of high school, my entire outlook on life would forever change.
That morning, I woke up as just another Orange County kid attending just another conservative Christian fundamentalist private school. In the following weeks, I would be relegated as "extreme" as that crazy "anti-American" extremist, Barbara Lee. Why? Well, I agree(d) with her.
It was my first experience of expressing dissent, and of paying the price for holding an unpopular point of view. In the immediate days following 9/11, there was a sense of national unity. And while it was helpful in many ways, on the other hand it allowed for the Bush Administration to embark on policy prescriptions that we would later learn to be quite harmful to our country. It was easy to go with the masses and cheer on "retaliation" against the "evildoers". It most definitely wasn't easy to point out what would happen once Congress gave George Bush a blank check to engage in endless war.
I was just trying to make sense of everything that was happening all around me... And it just wasn't making sense. Even as everyone else around me kept beating the drums for war more loudly, I kept wondering why we were doing this. My teachers and my own mother were asking why I sympathized with "terrorists". Other students just saw me as "the liberal weirdo". Nothing seemed to make sense then...
But it all comes together now.
Fast forward ten years, and now Rep. Barbara Lee's words ring more prescient and true than ever before. We're mired in multiple wars abroad, yet we supposedly can't afford to create jobs for the unemployed here at home. Nearly ten years after the USA (Un)PATRIOT(ic) Act passed, Americans are now asking where their freedom went. And now that memories of a nation so proudly patriotic seem so distant, Congress has reached a new low in unpopularity as seemingly anything and everything is being questioned.
In many ways, it feels like the tables have turned. Back then, I felt so alone in opposing what seemed so American as apple pie. But now, I'm trying to explain how things work to the very same people who are now losing faith in the entire American experiment. It can be sad to watch, but I can't lose hope that our people will recognize what needs to be done to restore our democracy.
Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
12 Years Later
Twelve years ago, I woke up to my second day of school. I ate breakfast, threw on my uniform, and left. It wasn't until I arrived in my first period class when I learned of what was occurring on the other side of the nation.
At first, it was so shocking, especially for all of us in Orange County. What happened in New York? A plane crashed into The Pentagon as well? And there's a fourth plane still on the loose?
Eventually, it all sunk in. And September 11 would forever be associated with the events of this day twelve years ago.
Twelve years later, I woke up to this.
Twelve years later, we're still concerned about terrorism. We're still concerned about unbridled hate. We're still dealing with conspiracy theories. And we're still grappling with matters of war and peace.
In the past twelve years, we've experienced some painful moments in history. Yet in the past twelve years, we've also experienced major breakthroughs Who would have guessed back then we'd now have a President named Barack Obama, a still vibrant multicultural society, and real efforts to find diplomatic solutions to the world's problems?
Twelve years ago, this nation endured a horrific tragedy. Twelve years later, our nation still stands. And while there are still many problems facing us at home and abroad, there are also opportunities for us to learn and grow.
Twelve years ago, we were so shocked by what had just occurred that we rushed into two wars. Twelve years later, we may finally be giving peace a chance. Some things may be the same after twelve years, but others have changed.
At first, it was so shocking, especially for all of us in Orange County. What happened in New York? A plane crashed into The Pentagon as well? And there's a fourth plane still on the loose?
Eventually, it all sunk in. And September 11 would forever be associated with the events of this day twelve years ago.
Twelve years later, I woke up to this.
Twelve years later, we're still concerned about terrorism. We're still concerned about unbridled hate. We're still dealing with conspiracy theories. And we're still grappling with matters of war and peace.
In the past twelve years, we've experienced some painful moments in history. Yet in the past twelve years, we've also experienced major breakthroughs Who would have guessed back then we'd now have a President named Barack Obama, a still vibrant multicultural society, and real efforts to find diplomatic solutions to the world's problems?
Twelve years ago, this nation endured a horrific tragedy. Twelve years later, our nation still stands. And while there are still many problems facing us at home and abroad, there are also opportunities for us to learn and grow.
Twelve years ago, we were so shocked by what had just occurred that we rushed into two wars. Twelve years later, we may finally be giving peace a chance. Some things may be the same after twelve years, but others have changed.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
10 Years Later: My Own 9/11
September 11, 2001, is a day I can't forget... Even though it was a day that seemed to start like so many others had. While I was getting ready for school, America's beating economic heart and central political nervous system were under attack. And as I was starting what I just thought would be my second day of high school, my entire outlook on life would forever change.
That morning, I woke up as just another Orange County kid attending just another conservative Christian fundamentalist private school. In the following weeks, I would be relegated as "extreme" as that crazy "anti-American" extremist, Barbara Lee. Why? Well, I agree(d) with her.
It was my first experience of expressing dissent, and of paying the price for holding an unpopular point of view. In the immediate days following 9/11, there was a sense of national unity. And while it was helpful in many ways, on the other hand it allowed for the Bush Administration to embark on policy prescriptions that we would later learn to be quite harmful to our country. It was easy to go with the masses and cheer on "retaliation" against the "evildoers". It most definitely wasn't easy to point out what would happen once Congress gave George Bush a blank check to engage in endless war.
I was just trying to make sense of everything that was happening all around me... And it just wasn't making sense. Even as everyone else around me kept beating the drums for war more loudly, I kept wondering why we were doing this. My teachers and my own mother were asking why I sympathized with "terrorists". Other students just saw me as "the liberal weirdo". Nothing seemed to make sense then...
But it all comes together now.
Fast forward ten years, and now Rep. Barbara Lee's words ring more prescient and true than ever before. We're mired in multiple wars abroad, yet we supposedly can't afford to create jobs for the unemployed here at home. Nearly ten years after the USA (Un)PATRIOT(ic) Act passed, Americans are now asking where their freedom went. And now that memories of a nation so proudly patriotic seem so distant, Congress has reached a new low in unpopularity as seemingly anything and everything is being questioned.
In many ways, it feels like the tables have turned. Back then, I felt so alone in opposing what seemed so American as apple pie. But now, I'm trying to explain how things work to the very same people who are now losing faith in the entire American experiment. It can be sad to watch, but I can't lose hope that our people will recognize what needs to be done to restore our democracy.
10 Years Later: Have We Already Forgotten?
Remember that feeling of national unity, and of global unity, immediately after 9/11? What happened?
Have we emerged stronger? And have we moved forward? Has the ten year long "Global War on Terror" really been what we needed?
And what about those some claim to be our "enemies"? What is the real threat here?
Is our real "enemy" someone, or something, different? Have we become our own worst enemy?
Who would have thought ten years ago that in the following decade America's greatest threat would arrive not in the form of another airplane crashing into The Pentagon, but rather in the form of toxic "mortgage backed securities" and similar "funny money" financial schemes crashing our economy and leading to the worst unemployment crisis this nation has seen in over seventy years? We may be safer from foreign and domestic terrorists than we were ten years, but America doesn't feel safer because of fear of expanding unemployment lines.
Of course, this doesn't mean 9/11 no longer matters. It still does. It can't be erased from our memory, even though it may help to remember the truth of what this has all really been about.
We should continue to remember what happen, but we can't keep drumming it up, using it as an excuse for exercising bad judgment, and refusing to acknowledge the need to close this chapter of our history as we learn from our past mistakes.
Perhaps Jonathan Freedland is correct. And perhaps the rest of the world has lessons to teach us.
This is most definitely a poignant day for our nation, and it is important to remember... But we can't afford to dwell in the past. We have plenty of problems to solve today, and we'll eventually need to get back to work in doing that.
Once again, Obama has declared Sept. 11 to be a national day of service and remembrance, as he and the nation honor the dead, those who responded 10 years ago, those who have fought terrorism and those who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"A decade after 9/11, it’s clear for all the world to see—the terrorists who attacked us that September morning are no match for the character of our people, the resilience of our nation, or the endurance of our values," Obama said in his weekly address Saturday.
But the president also urged the country to look ahead, calling for a return to the kind of unity that marked those dark days a decade ago. The nation focused on the tragedy and put politics aside, a sharp difference from recent days during which sharp turmoil and party bickering have become the hallmarks of Washington politics.
“On a day when others tried to divide us, we can regain the sense of common purpose that stirred in our hearts 10 years ago,” Obama wrote in an op-ed published last week in USA Today. “As a nation, we face difficult challenges, and as citizens in a democratic society we engage in vigorous debates about the future. But as we do, let's never forget the lesson we learned anew 10 years ago — that our differences pale beside what unites us and that when we choose to move forward together, as one American family, the United States doesn't just endure, we can emerge from our tests and trials stronger than before.”
Have we emerged stronger? And have we moved forward? Has the ten year long "Global War on Terror" really been what we needed?
Today is September 11th, the tenth anniversary of the horrific and inhumane Al Qaeda-led terrorist attacks that killed approximately 3,000 innocents. As Americans pause and reflect on how these attacks changed our country and the world, we should reflect upon one of deceased terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden’s primary goals: bankrupting America. In an audio tape from 2004, Bin Laden explained that Al Qaeda had adopted a “policy” of “bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy” through provoking it into engaging in perpetual warfare in the Middle East and South Asia.
Nearly ten years after the United States sent our military forces into Afghanistan, our country has spent $1.2 trillion engaging in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the National Priorities Project (NPP). The wars are expected to cost much more than that by their conclusion, with some estimates ranging up to $3 trillion for the Iraq war alone.
By spending this much money on wars that ended up being America’s longest in history, the United States in some ways fell into Bin Laden’s trap. This money could’ve been used in ways that would’ve invested in America — securing access to health care, a decent education, and infrastructure for alternative energy.
And what about those some claim to be our "enemies"? What is the real threat here?
Is our real "enemy" someone, or something, different? Have we become our own worst enemy?
Today, following all the Bush-era tax cuts, the US is a deeply divided country in social terms. The gap between rich and poor is almost as great as it was in the days of oil barons and steel magnates in the last century. Five percent of Americans buy almost 40 percent of all consumer goods sold in the country.
The country is at war with itself. It has a Congress where there is perpetual conflict between the right and the left -- and where they don't even want to talk to each other when the threat of a national bankruptcy looms.
Like no other country, the US became great because of its openness. Now, it has become distrustful, fearful and defensive -- against Muslims, against foreigners, against anyone who is different. Citizen militias hunt down illegal immigrants, and many people can still not accept having a black president in the White House.
Who would have thought ten years ago that in the following decade America's greatest threat would arrive not in the form of another airplane crashing into The Pentagon, but rather in the form of toxic "mortgage backed securities" and similar "funny money" financial schemes crashing our economy and leading to the worst unemployment crisis this nation has seen in over seventy years? We may be safer from foreign and domestic terrorists than we were ten years, but America doesn't feel safer because of fear of expanding unemployment lines.
Of course, this doesn't mean 9/11 no longer matters. It still does. It can't be erased from our memory, even though it may help to remember the truth of what this has all really been about.
We should continue to remember what happen, but we can't keep drumming it up, using it as an excuse for exercising bad judgment, and refusing to acknowledge the need to close this chapter of our history as we learn from our past mistakes.
In those dazed days after the attacks, a new foreign policy doctrine was hastily assembled. It said that the world faced a single, overarching and paramount threat in the form of violent jihadism. Every other battle had to be subordinated to, or subsumed into, that one. And the call went beyond foreign policy. Culture, too, was to be enlisted in a clash of civilisations between Islamism and the west that would rank alongside the great 20th century struggles against communism and fascism. Christopher Hitchens confessed he felt "exhilaration" as he saw the towers fall. At last there would be war against "dull and vicious theocratic fascism. I am prepared for this war to go on for a very long time. I will never become tired of waging it, because it is a fight over essentials. And because it is so interesting."
Such talk has been a constant of the 9/11 decade but its time has passed. For one thing, it's predicated on a mistake. The right way to regard the 2001 attacks was as a heinous and wicked crime – not a declaration of war. As Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, argued in her first Reith lecture calling it a war "legitimises the terrorists as warriors". It's exactly what al-Qaida wanted – feeding their fantasies of grandeur – and we gave it to them. [...]
Again, this is not to say the dangers have receded. Would-be terrorists have seen the earth-shaking impact a spectacular attack can have – especially if it prompts a massive reaction that fuels the terrorists' cause, as the Iraq invasion did for al-Qaida. If one of the Arab revolutions fails, an al-Qaida offshoot could find purchase in that country. But vigilance is not the same as a careless, undiscriminating monomania.
Even those who were not there say the memory is so vivid, it feels like yesterday. But it was not yesterday. It was 10 years ago. We should mark the 9/11 anniversary with respect and care for those who died. But then we ought to close this sorry and bloody chapter – and bury the mentality it created.
Perhaps Jonathan Freedland is correct. And perhaps the rest of the world has lessons to teach us.
This is most definitely a poignant day for our nation, and it is important to remember... But we can't afford to dwell in the past. We have plenty of problems to solve today, and we'll eventually need to get back to work in doing that.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Osama Bin Laden... Is Dead... But Is "War on Terror" Over?
It's here. It's happened.
In so many ways, what Osama bin Laden planned nearly 10 years ago has defined the last decade. Out of 9/11, we've seen global strife over interventionist vs. imperialistic foreign policy, whether democracy can regain a foothold in The Middle East, how relevant our own Constitution really is to America's "rule of law", if Christianity and Islam can finally coexist peacefully, and so much more. Think about it. Since 9/11, we Americans have had a whole lot of issues to deal with...
And we've had to witness so many thousands of families endure the grief and the pain of those terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. We're about 4 months away from the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The first withdraw of troops from Afghanistan is scheduled to occur within the next 60 days, and more troops are planned to be redeployed from Iraq.
So what does this mean? Obviously, Osama bin Laden is dead and the figurehead of al Qaeda is gone. So what happens next? What happens in Afghanistan? What happens in The Middle East? What happens in America (with our civil rights)?
I'm eagerly awaiting President Obama's speech. Without a doubt, he's just accomplished something so many have been pursuing over this last decade.
Osama bin Laden has been killed, a United States official said Sunday night. President Obama is expected to make an announcement on Sunday night, almost 10 years after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In so many ways, what Osama bin Laden planned nearly 10 years ago has defined the last decade. Out of 9/11, we've seen global strife over interventionist vs. imperialistic foreign policy, whether democracy can regain a foothold in The Middle East, how relevant our own Constitution really is to America's "rule of law", if Christianity and Islam can finally coexist peacefully, and so much more. Think about it. Since 9/11, we Americans have had a whole lot of issues to deal with...
And we've had to witness so many thousands of families endure the grief and the pain of those terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. We're about 4 months away from the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The first withdraw of troops from Afghanistan is scheduled to occur within the next 60 days, and more troops are planned to be redeployed from Iraq.
So what does this mean? Obviously, Osama bin Laden is dead and the figurehead of al Qaeda is gone. So what happens next? What happens in Afghanistan? What happens in The Middle East? What happens in America (with our civil rights)?
I'm eagerly awaiting President Obama's speech. Without a doubt, he's just accomplished something so many have been pursuing over this last decade.
Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11: Then & Now
Where were you? How did you feel? What did it feel like when it seemed the world was coming to an end?
I can't forget that day. It was my second day of school. When I woke up and got prepared, it seemed like any other normal school day. I didn't even bother to turn on the TV.
But as soon as I arrived on campus, something didn't seem right. No one was chirpy and cheery as usual. And as soon as first period started, the geography teacher broke us the news.
A terrorist attack? The Twin Towers are burning down? The Pentagon is under attack? What is the world coming to?
That's how I felt immediately upon hearing this. But of course, there was soon more to digest.
al-Qaeda? Who are they? Muslims? Muslim terrorists? Why would this happen? And what else is happening? Another plane crash in Pennsylvania?
I was starting to "rebel" as a teenager, and this became increasingly evident later in the day... And especially in the coming weeks and months. I was then attending a Christian Fundamentalist private school. I was scared then, and deeply in the closet. But as everyone around me started repeating everything George W. Bush said as if it were the word of god as they pumped their fists and threatened to "kill all the Muslims", I became frightened... Of these people I thought I knew.
I felt so weird back then. Everyone else was cheering for wars and more wars. I was not. I remember hearing the pleas from RAWA not to invade Afghanistan. I remember wondering why everyone all of a sudden was calling for war on Iraq when Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. I remember why everyone seemed so willing to give up what made America so free in order to "stay safe".
I wasn't directly affected by 9/11, but it nonetheless turned my world upside down. While so many were lavishing George W. Bush with hero worship, I felt like the only one who actually noticed the real courage of Barbara Lee being the lone voice of reason as she spoke against what would soon become endless wars and countless attacks on our civil liberties. While so many were suddenly changing their tunes from "getting bin Laden" to "getting Saddam", I was wondering what was happening to my country.
Eight years ago, I never expected I'd register to vote as a Democrat. I never expected I'd become a member of the ACLU. I never expected I'd become a "peacenik". I didn't expect then that I would be here now.
I guess in some way, this reflects the story of how this nation has changed in the last eight years. Perhaps I was "ahead of the curve", but it's interesting to now see that most Americans now oppose the endless war in Afghanistan and that so many people are now talking about our Constitution and civil liberties. Of course, now all we hear is "Obama wants a government takeover of health care!" Ironically, these are the same blowhards who never questioned Bush when he really was stripping away our Constitutional rights. The same right-wing extremists who once supported every criminal act of Bush are now "concerned" about Obama's "un-American socialist attacks on our freedom"? Gimme a break.
But hey, at least dissent is no longer considered "un-American". And maybe one day, this nation will wake up and realize that another world is possible. A world at peace. A world of social justice. A world without terrorism, whether it's a bunch of cruel extremists attacking a city or government sponsored attacks on other nations.
I can't forget that day. It was my second day of school. When I woke up and got prepared, it seemed like any other normal school day. I didn't even bother to turn on the TV.
But as soon as I arrived on campus, something didn't seem right. No one was chirpy and cheery as usual. And as soon as first period started, the geography teacher broke us the news.
A terrorist attack? The Twin Towers are burning down? The Pentagon is under attack? What is the world coming to?
That's how I felt immediately upon hearing this. But of course, there was soon more to digest.
al-Qaeda? Who are they? Muslims? Muslim terrorists? Why would this happen? And what else is happening? Another plane crash in Pennsylvania?
I was starting to "rebel" as a teenager, and this became increasingly evident later in the day... And especially in the coming weeks and months. I was then attending a Christian Fundamentalist private school. I was scared then, and deeply in the closet. But as everyone around me started repeating everything George W. Bush said as if it were the word of god as they pumped their fists and threatened to "kill all the Muslims", I became frightened... Of these people I thought I knew.
I felt so weird back then. Everyone else was cheering for wars and more wars. I was not. I remember hearing the pleas from RAWA not to invade Afghanistan. I remember wondering why everyone all of a sudden was calling for war on Iraq when Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. I remember why everyone seemed so willing to give up what made America so free in order to "stay safe".
I wasn't directly affected by 9/11, but it nonetheless turned my world upside down. While so many were lavishing George W. Bush with hero worship, I felt like the only one who actually noticed the real courage of Barbara Lee being the lone voice of reason as she spoke against what would soon become endless wars and countless attacks on our civil liberties. While so many were suddenly changing their tunes from "getting bin Laden" to "getting Saddam", I was wondering what was happening to my country.
Eight years ago, I never expected I'd register to vote as a Democrat. I never expected I'd become a member of the ACLU. I never expected I'd become a "peacenik". I didn't expect then that I would be here now.
I guess in some way, this reflects the story of how this nation has changed in the last eight years. Perhaps I was "ahead of the curve", but it's interesting to now see that most Americans now oppose the endless war in Afghanistan and that so many people are now talking about our Constitution and civil liberties. Of course, now all we hear is "Obama wants a government takeover of health care!" Ironically, these are the same blowhards who never questioned Bush when he really was stripping away our Constitutional rights. The same right-wing extremists who once supported every criminal act of Bush are now "concerned" about Obama's "un-American socialist attacks on our freedom"? Gimme a break.
But hey, at least dissent is no longer considered "un-American". And maybe one day, this nation will wake up and realize that another world is possible. A world at peace. A world of social justice. A world without terrorism, whether it's a bunch of cruel extremists attacking a city or government sponsored attacks on other nations.
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