I had a doctor’s appointment for 9am and got to the office a little early. A TV was on CNN in the waiting room and the first plane had just hit the north tower. People on the news were talking about whether it was a terrorist attack or an accident. Speculation was that it was a small plane and then others were saying a larger passenger plane. I remember thinking that it wasn’t over — that another plane was going to hit the other tower. I was having a physical done and it was taking a while and they were being especially slow. When they took me back for my blood to be drawn, the lab had an open door to a nurse’s station where another TV was on CNN. As I was sitting there watching it, the plane hit the South Tower.
After leaving the doctor’s office a little while later, I went to class but there were only about a half dozen people there — as opposed to the regular 30-ish. Word soon came from the university that school was closed for the day. Work that night passed by slowly and I was glued to NPR for the first of many times. I think they may have let us go home early, but I can’t remember.
Even though I was 700 miles away, 9/11 directly changed my life. Before that, I didn’t give a crap about politics of any kind or current events. That day completely changed that. I was vaguely Republican and then proceeded to become much more so until becoming much less so. What for me started out as justice, began to seem like vengeance and then like we were just repeating the same horrors on people completely unrelated to the event. So without 9/11 I might still be an apathetic conservative instead of a very concerned liberal.
I don’t go much for memorials in general. I have never watched them and have never felt inclined to. I think if we want to properly memorialize the event, we should do something about it. Like putting an end to the violence unleashed by the politicians who have used that day for political gain. Below the fold is a message from Dennis Kucinich that I think is worth reading.
Remembering 9/11
Dear Jason Adams,
Let us on this day mourn for those who tragically lost their lives on 9/11. And let us commit that their lives not be lost in vain, but become the basis for a new America of peace and justice. America must regain the moral high ground in our efforts to recover from 9/11.
Let us not forget the world was with America in our sorrow on September 11, 2001. The world was prepared to unite with America in a cooperative effort to challenge terrorists who attempt to disrupt civil society. Instead, the Administration used 9/11 as an excuse to attack a nation that did not attack us. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, or with Al Qaeda’s role in 9/11. Iraq did not have the intention or the capability of attacking the United States. Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Yet the Administration deliberately and falsely conflated 9/11 with Iraq, with the cooperation of an unquestioning media.
As a result, nearly 4,000 of our brave soldiers have lost their lives, and tens of thousands have been permanently injured in combat in Iraq. The subsequent occupation has fueled the insurgency and will continue to result in more troop losses until the United States leaves. Also, nearly one million innocent Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of this war. This violence against an innocent people is a tragedy of immense proportions. It is also a violation of international law, and those who authored this war must be held accountable for their actions.
Americans will spend close to $2 trillion in Iraq by the time the costs of this war are totaled, but the longer term costs have included the undermining America’s moral authority in the world, the separation of America from the nations and the peoples of the world, and the destruction of a domestic agenda which is being deferred while we borrow money from China to fight the war in Baghdad.
We need to call those who used 9/11 to take us into war against Iraq to an accounting under the U.S. Constitution, U.S. law, and international law. We must soon begin a period of truth and reconciliation in our own nation. We must have forums of open dialogue throughout the country where we can come together to remember who we were before 9/11, to share our personal narratives of the times when we felt most secure, most in love with our nation, most trustful of our democratic institutions. We must recover our capacity for civic action. We must reclaim our nation. The only way we can do that is to tell the truth.
Dennis Kucinich
Political gain?
Can you explain the gain to me?
The United States is now in a huge amount of world debt, has lost credibility on the world stage and has been effectively “beaten” by a far less powerful military force within Iraq. I don’t want to discount your beliefs, I just would like you to explain them to me because if you’re suggesting something was actually gained, I can’t think of a single thing gained from it all.
Patriot act, second election victory, war in iraq. All of these things were political in nature and would not have been possible without 9/11. I’m not saying the US benefitted in any way. I’m saying there are politicians who have used it to advance their agendas and careers (in ways that led to violence). I daresay every politician has used it to advance their career in one way or another, Kucinich included, since his biggest claim to fame is being against the war from the start.
Of course, there were political gains…there always are. There were gains in policy–both foreign and domestic.
It made some people poor–they lost everything and by the same token, some people got rich, but I refuse to look at it from the perspective that wins and losses stemming from 9/11 as having blood on them.
We progressed because “that’s what we do”. It’s the same progression that naturally occurs in a forward thinking society.
I wrote about the day in my blog as well. I looked at i9/11 from a Viktor Frankl perspective–well, sort of . Six years ago, I desperately looked for something hopeful, promising in the initial aftermath. On that incredibly painful day, it was something I had to do.
I enjoyed your post. It was provocative.
LK
lauriekendrick.wordpress.com
I guess you’re right. As a Brit I obviously look at things a little differently. I live in Chicago and frankly everyone who talks to me about the war (they always bring it up – I don’t) seems embarrassed by their country’s actions. Also there is a definite anti-USA feeling in some parts of Europe now and that is such a shame as the people are wonderful, I consider that a major loss, outweighing any gains for me.