We were warned that the paranoia of endless war could lead to the creation of a Security State that would threaten our basic rights of free speech and privacy.
That warning seems less and less like a theory and more and more like a fact.
The warnings about "endless war" also seem more and more like a new reality.
Consider:
We invaded Afghanistan for it's role in hosting and protecting the violent fanatics who attacked us on 911.
Afghanistan is still a mess and still hosts violent fanatics.
We invaded Iraq and deposed its dictator.
Iraq is a mess and now under assault by violent fanatics.
And now, over a decade later, a different president is again declaring that he doesn't need the approval of congress and will put together a 'coalition of the willing' to attack- violent fanatics.
I will admit I once believed in the WOT. I wanted our country to be safe from violent, regressive fanatics. I wanted women and religious minorities to enjoy the same security and freedom I take for granted.
I still want those things.
But I look around me and I see a generation of servicemen and women who are disabled or permanently traumatized by multiple tours of duty.
I'm discouraged by flaws in these societies that no amount of military intervention can correct:
Emirates who speak soothing words to the west while silently sending money to violent fanatics.
A constant desire to blame the west for these ills, even while begging the west to rescue the societies that cling to them.
I still want a better life for the innocent victims of violent fanatics.
But I want a better life for this country, too.
I cant help wondering: our armed forces are strictly volunteer. What happens when they can no longer attract sufficient recruits to feed the WoT?
Too many Americans can no longer find jobs that will support their families. How long will it be before some smart politician decides to reinstate the draft?
After all, the easiest way to reduce unemployment is to simply ship masses of the unemployed overseas.
Viola!
That said, I still love this country. I love it for the magical mix of people who are born here or who are drawn here. I love it for the miracles that crazy mix oftens creates. I love it for our never-ending struggle to make our founding ideals a reality.
I guess that's all I have to say for this 911. I love my country. And that changes how I see certain things, 13 years on.
I have been doing September 11 posts every year for over a decade.
I have not run out of things to say; only the heart to say them.
On September 11, 2001 millions of Americans were abruptly introduced to the kind of murderous zealots the Middle East has endured for generations.
The kind of zealots that carefully plan and ecstatically cheer the deaths of unarmed, non-military men, women and children.
The kind of zealots who demand that the world reshape itself to suit their ethnic grievances, whether real or imagined.
The kind of zealots for whom purity is never pure enough; the kind who will violently punish anyone who deviates from perfect compliance with their beliefs.
Zealots like that murdered thousands of innocent, unsuspecting Americans in multiple locations in just a few hours.
At first we were stunned.
Then we were angry.
Then we took up arms and went out to meet them.
The result has been neither success nor failure, but a kind of toxic stalemate.
Like a sick body kept alive and suffering while the twin toxins of chemotherapy and cancer fight it out.
Like many Americans I had hoped we could spread democracy and freedom to millions of like-minded individuals. But once those concepts passed through the overseas looking glass, they kept turning into "freedom for my gender/ethnic group and oppression for all others!"
We had barged into a broken region that can never be repaired from without. But what's worse is that we seem to have taken some of the poisonous shards back home as toxic souvenirs.
Our political parties have fractured into zealous cults. Cults that demand complete purity and absolute fealty. Cults that would rather cling to radical and illogical concepts than actually work together to solve problems.
Don't agree with the President? You're a racist. Worn down by an economy that produces only minimum-wage jobs? You're a taker, not a maker.
Right now the American people are ruled by warring zealots that know more about each other than they do about the people they represent.
And many of them somehow think that the most important thing to do right now is return to a broken region and help break it further.
What was that famous definition of insanity again?
While the U.S. was observing a subdued September 11 yesterday, mobs in Cairo and Benghazi attacked the U.S. embassies there.
In Benghazi, U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who just months ago was supporting the Libyan rebels in their struggle to overthrow Muamar Qadaffi- was killed. Three other embassy staffers- none yet identified- were killed as well.
In Cairo, a mob of 2,000 fanatics stormed the embassy, taking down and destroying its U.S. flag and raising the black flag associated with Jihadists in its place.
Both embassy buildings suffered damage and looting.
The cause of all this was supposedly a film denigrating the Mohammed that, until today, none but a handful of Americans had ever heard of, let alone seen. Yet this obscure bit of film became an extremely useful tool in Egypt and Libya, where big stories about it were spun to whip mobs into a frenzy.
What were some of the rumors? Read below:
Claims were made that the film was the work of Morris Sadek, an Egyptian Copt living in the U.S. Mr. Morris is a controversial figure in Egypt due to his public remarks about Islam and the Arab Spring.
Mobs were told that the film would be broadcast on all U.S. television stations during 9/11 obervances this year
I discovered these rumors while searching some Egyptian blogs and online newspapers for more information. Here is Zeinobia at Egyptian Chronicles:
In short summary ugly radical bastard Morris Sadek produced along with infamous Terry Jones a documentary that insults Prophet Mohamed “PBUH” , ironically the ones who spread that documentary online mostly from Islamists. The documentary is awful , some poor disgusting Now it is worth to mention that a considerable number of these protesters believed that this documentary will be aired on all American TV channels on the occasion of 9/11 with Arabic translation !!!
It appears Zeinobia is mistaken in linking Morris Sadek to the film. It is actually the work of Sam Bacile. Mr. Bacile has gone into hiding, but has publicly claimed credit for the piece in statements to U.S. media.
She is correct in calling the film awful. There are numerous clips from it on YouTube and it literally looks like something a bunch of high school kids would make in a friend's basement for a school project. "Amateurish" is putting it far too kindly. Yeesh.
She also posts video of the burning embassy in Benghazi:
She finishes with a final disturbing rumor:
Now Russia Today claims that Salafists in Tunisia are calling their supporters to attack and destroy the US embassy. Anyhow the US embassy in Tunisia is said to be heavily secured.
Tunisian Salafis are now calling for an attack on their country's US embassy, Tunisian media outlets said. Salafis militants had previously attempted to attack the embassy, but were repelled by security forces. Many in the region believe another attack is imminent.
I mentioned earlier that U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed in the Benghazi attack. The exact details of his death are very unclear. Libyan officials claimed that he was killed by a rocket attack on his car, but earlier this morning NPR was reporting that he had smothered in the smoke from the fire.
Egypt Independent is running a photograph of Ambassador Stevens taken at some point during the attack. The caption claims that he is being "helped" by Libyan civilians. It doesn't look that way to me. He also does not look as though he has smothered from smoke inhalation. There appears to be a big gash on his forehead and he frankly looks like he's just been beaten and is being dragged away by the mob. But I can't confirm this.
As is usual in situations like this, demands are being made by various groups. From the Daily News Egypt:
“We don’t have any problems with our Coptic brothers in Egypt,” said Sheikh Abdallah Abdel Hamid, who was standing in front of the embassy, “but we ask President Morsy to revoke the Egyptian citizenship of those abroad.”
On Monday Nader Bakkar, spokesman for the Salafist Al-Nour Party, stated that those Egyptians involved in the making of the film should have their Egyptian citizenships revoked.
In addition to the protest, strong condemnations of the movie have come from various groups in Egypt. Among the organisations that have condemned the movie is the Coalition of Egypt’s Copts which demanded severe punishment for the people responsible for producing the movie, through an international trial for hurting the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide.
The coalition added that holding those responsible for the movie accountable will deter anyone else from abusing or attacking any other religion. Furthermore, the coalition demanded the enforcing of international laws on all countries that exercise this “intellectual terrorism.”
So- the alleged actions of one Copt living abroad are enough to justify disenfranchising thousands of Copts living in Egypt? Anyone who hurts Muslim feelings should be put on trial? Making controversial (if shoddy) films is "intellectual terrorism" and should be punished by other countries? Really?
Sorry, but that's just juvenile thinking. And it does not improve the image of Muslims in western eyes.
I'll close with a little something from Michael Totten's blog on the situation:
We aren't going to cancel our First Amendment because fanatics on the other side of the planet get bent out of shape over what happens in free countries. And they won't stop getting bent out of shape. So we should brace for a lot more of this sort of thing in the future.
A Salafist leader in Egypt has called for a "million-man march" on Friday to protest the film. Brace, indeed.
Ten years ago 40 strangers on a doomed airplane decided to work together- and together they saved thousands of people they would never live to meet.
Yet today, our remembrance of them remains incomplete. The Flight 93 memorial fund lacks $10 million dollars and the memorial remains unfinished.
Can we please follow their solemn example at least long enough to complete their memorial? Even if we can't cooperate on anything else these days, surely we can do this much.
Let's act like the country that the heroes of Flight 93 died to save. Let's do this.
This documentary chronicles the life of Franciscan Friar Mychal Judge, the FDNY Chaplain who followed Christ into the burning towers and out of this mortal life. (His body was the first recovered from the disaster.) Through footage and interviews with friends and colleagues, Father Mychal emerges as a complex, vibrant, devoted Christian- and an equally devoted New Yorker and FDNY chaplain.
Director Steven Rosenbaum presents events in New York City through the eyes of several New Yorkers. It combines the catastrophic footage of the Twin Towers with footage of average New Yorkers both struggling alone and coming together to overcome the awful events of 9/11. A sensitive documentary that presents the entire spectrum of human emotion.
French brothers Jules and Gedeon Naudet set out to make a film about how a rookie becomes an FDNY firefighter but were swept up in the events of 9/11 when their camera accidentally captured the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. The resulting documentary is raw and riveting as they follow that rookie- and his entire unit- into the Trade Center during the desperate rescue attempt.
This is the only non-documentary I've included in my list, but it deserves a permanent spot. Director Paul Greengrass recreates the what is known about the events aboard United Flight 93 in tense but respectful detail. Working from primary documents- and even using a number of people who were actually working on the ground that day to recreate the FAA's desperate attempts to track the hijacked planes- Greengrass creates a compelling picture of the ordinary passengers who dared to attack their hijackers.
Although not directly related to 9/11, this documentary about Phillip Petits' highwire stroll between the Twin Towers in 1974places the buildings in their historical context. It reminds us that the World Trade Center was a symbol (albeit controversial) of power, modernity and progress long before it became an icon of tragedy.
Worthwhile Links
History.com has an excellent website featuring as interactive map of the area around the World Trade Center. When you click on various locations you are shown a video of that day taken by an ordinary person who was at that location. The homemade videos are short, but powerful: an NYU student watching from a dormitory, a man living in a nearby apartment building filming firemen taking refuge in the lobby.
New York Times: Portraits of Grief This is the NYT's now-famous collection of essay/obituaries, one for each Trade Center victim. They are now accompanied by a new feature, following up on the surviving families and where they are now.
Biography.com: About 9/11: A thorough overview of 9/11 including facts and figures, a powerful photo gallery, portraits of the victims, and more.
Interactive Publishing.net offers a fascinating collection of screenshots of the front pages of dozens of domestic/international newspapers on September 11&12, 2001. Well worth a look, even if you can't read all the languages.
Rescue at Water's Edge this short video offers a tribute to all the mariners- in craft large and small- who rushed to rescue survivors in New York and transport supplies and help.
Last and Certainly Least...
Here's a list of links to my previous 9/11 posts over the years:
Best wishes for this weekend of unhappy remembrance. Hug your loved ones; you never know what might take them from you. Shake a policeman, EMTs' or firefighter's hand; you never know when you might need them.
"If we're going to fight off all this evil, we've got to do better. We've got to pull together."
Charles Barkley, I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It
What I am about to say will not be popular.
Ten years ago this week, nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered in a coordinated attack on the United States. The nation watched in horror as a handful of religio-political zealots siezed control of domestic airplanes and used them, kamikaze-style, to ram the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. One plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania when passengers overran the cockpit and attacked the hijackers.
By mid-afternoon the attacks were over, but something else was just beginning: all across the country Americans slowly stood up, wiped their eyes and got to work. How can I help? became the national question.
In the process we discovered each other. When all flights were grounded, many passengers found themselves stranded in unfamiliar places. Unable to fly, they rented cars and drove to their destination, sometimes crossing the entire country. These accidental tourists discovered a country of big skies and even bigger hearts. They were joined on the road by thousands of ironworkers, carpenters, EMTs and construction workers who spontaneously walked away from their regular jobs, packed their cars and headed to New York City to volunteer at Ground Zero.
Those who couldn't travel mobbed local blood donation centers, giving until officials had to ask them to stop. A network of free food service, donated clothing and even cheerleaders waving pompoms formed to support the rescue workers at Ground Zero. Schoolchildren sent them encouraging letters.
I am old enough to remember Iranian Hostage Crisis. A pop tune written during that national emergency seemed to capture the 9/11 spirit as well:
'Cause we'll all stick together
And you can take that to the bank
That's the cowboys
And the hippies
And the Rebels
And the Yanks...
We are unworthy now of the country we were then. We no longer deserve the firemen, police officers and EMTs who gave their lives, or the many volunteers who crossed the country to work on "The Pile," or the thousands who lined up to donate blood.
We have divided into vicious, self-righteous, tub-thumping enclaves.
STFU has replaced E Pluribus Unum.
The Capitol Building, with its grand dome and fluted columns, was designed as a kind of temple to our representative government. Today it is the playhouse of a pack of insane children. Legislators demand that peacefully protesting citizens be "investigated for racism" and publicize nasty emails declaring that a colleague is "not a lady."
Police and Firemen are demonized by pundits and politicians as "greedy public sector employees." Members of the Senate balk at extending health benefits for first responders crippled by their work at Ground Zero.
Some pundits have criticized the killing of Osama bin Laden, comparing it to the 9/11 attacks- as if the assassination of a mass-murderer- enjoying the protection of another nation's military- is somehow equal to a sneak attack on thousands of unarmed, innocent civilians.
There is a classic bumpersticker that says: I love Jesus but fear his followers. These days I love my country but fear its "patriots."
But it is not only politicians and pundits who are to blame. Our national conversation has splintered into coarse, crude, self-serving fragments.
Search the web for "9/11 films" or "9/11 documentaries" and you will be treated to a long list of paranoid productions blaming the attacks on everything from Dick Cheney to the end of the gold standard.
Even the martyred passengers of United 93 are not spared. Oh no, say these self-appointed "investigators," these brave "truth-seekers;" that plane was shot down by a missile.
Never underestimate the ability of any dogmatist to look the facts in the face and promptly make up a new story that suits their prejudices better.
I am also waiting for the day when some ambitious blogger announces that he has researched the entire list of 9/11 victims and carefully sorted all the names into registered Republicans or Democrats.
See? X Republicans killed and X Democrats! We win!!!
It would not surprise me. Because the political blogosphere has sunk that low.
We are living in an era when each tiny group believes that only they have all the answers, only they are true patriots and that all opposing opinions should be not just ignored, but exterminated. The opposition, it is said, is not just wrong, but dangerous; they're obviously stooges of this or that secret, evil cabal trying to destroy the country. Only the ideologically pure "us" can save it.
Does anyone but me see the absurdity of calling any American a "pure" anything? Our country is defined by its vigorous, motley, mutinous mix of ideas, ethnicities and backgrounds. It is this very mix, the constant lending and borrowing of solutions and viewpoints, that created the unshakeable safety net of September 12th.
That same mix might just pull us through our current problems, if we let it.
"FROM THE GROUND UP" is the story of their widows. It is the story of trying to make sense of madness, of comforting their children and mourning their losses while the world watches. It’s the journey, taking two steps forward and one step back, through tears, depression and laughter, to triumph through tragedy. It’s the story of honoring their heroes in the most fitting personal ways they can imagine.
..........................
Andrea Garbarini lost her husband, Lt. Charley Garbarini, on September 11. Her dream is to tell these stories, of the bravery, resilience and legacy of the FDNY widows of 9/11 and to honor their heroes. "FROM THE GROUND UP", is a not for profit film that documents the indomitable spirit of these firemen's widows accomplishing extraordinary feats while surviving an extraordinary tragedy.
We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies—
Emily Dickinson
"Ok, there's a group of us and we're going to do something."
Tom Burnett
On September 11th, 2001, four passenger airplanes were hijacked and pointed at landmarks inside the United States. Three of them hit their intended targets.
One did not.
At 10:03 a.m., United Flight 93 streaked out of the sky, wings waggling frantically, and plowed into a reclaimed strip mine just outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 580 mph.
Thirty-three passengers and at least 4 crew members had rushed the cockpit and overwhelmed the hijackers, forcing them to crash the plane and denying them their prize.
The passengers were the definition of ordinary: students, grandmothers, business men and women, retirees. They used what weapons came to hand: boiling water from the galley, a food cart intended for delivering in-flight meals.
Before their assault, they placed dozens of calls to friends and family on the ground.
"We can't wait for the authorities," Tom Burnett told his wife. "We have to do something now."
The trapped passengers took a vote. Then they stormed up the aisle to the cockpit, forcing the hijackers to abandon their target and ram the plane into the ground.
Everyone on board was killed, and an untold number of people on the ground were spared.
It didn't really happen that way, says a growing chorus of cynics. The government had that plane shot down. With fighter jets. Seriously. I know this guy, he's a pilot, and he says that passenger revolt stuff is just a fairy tale. It could never bring a plane down.
Really? Well, I like fairy tales. Let me tell you another:
On February 28, 2010, a deranged man deliberately flew a Piper airplane into the Echelon Building in Austin, Texas, with the intent of killing IRS personnel.
A glass worker named Robin Dehaven was driving to work when he saw the Piper zoom out of sight over a hill. When he saw a plume of smoke, Mr. Dehaven, a former combat engineer in the U.S. army, immediately turned his truck in the direction of what he thought was a plane crash. He followed the smoke to the Echelon parking lot, where he saw sheets of flame and clouds of smoke engulfing the upper floors of the building.
A stranger- to this day unidentified- approached Mr. Dehaven's truck and said rescuers needed his work ladder; people were trapped on the second floor. Mr. Dehaven immediately leapt out of the truck grabbed the ladder. He saw the trapped workers- 4 men and a woman- near a broken window. Mr. Dehaven climbed up the ladder and into the burning building, only to discover that the position of the ladder was too unstable for an escape. Still inside the smoke-filled office, he led the group to a better spot, then stood on an outside ledge to guide the panicked employees down the stabilized ladder.
"I don't know who you are, but thank you," said one of the rescued men.
No fighter jets were reported at the scene.
There were none reported here, either:
At 10:32 a.m. on December 12, 2008, the Wells Fargo Bank in Woodburn, Oregon, received a phone call. Get out of the building, said a voice, or you'll all die. A bank employee called the police. Police officers, FBI agents and members of the Oregon State Police Bomb squad responded. A device was found, but deemed harmless. Then it was discovered that the West Coast Bank, less than 150 feet away on one of Woodburn's busiest streets, had also received a threatening call. Another device was found in the bushes outside the bank. Bomb technicians x-rayed the device outside. It too appeared harmless and they took it inside the nearly-evacuated West Coast Bank. (Two employees had not yet left the building.)
At 5:24 p.m., the second device exploded. Captain Tom Tennant of the Woodburn Police and Senior Trooper William Hakim of the Oregon State Police were killed instantly. Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was critically injured; the blast shattered his jaw and he would endure multiple surgeries, including the amputation of his right leg.
Woodburn is a farming community barely 5 miles square. In 2008 over 17% of its 23,355 citizens lived below the poverty line.
The West Coast Bank bombing should have been the final, demoralizing blow of a bitter year.
But it wasn't.
A memorial procession was arranged for Captain Tom Tennant on December 19th. Teenagers from the local high school volunteered to clean and detail the town's police cars for the event. Other volunteers tied blue ribbons around trees and signposts to honor the police. As the solemn parade of ambulances, fire trucks and police cars made its way through town, the citizens of Woodburn lined the sidewalks. They waved big American flags and displayed handmade signs that said: Thank You, Captain Tom.
Captain Tennant and Trooper Hakim both left behind families with teenage children, and after multiple surgeries and months in intensive care, Police Chief Russell's medical bills were escalating.
Woodburn residents began passing the hat. Soon there was such a flood of donations that Mayor Kathy Figley created a 501(c)(3) charity named Woodburn Proud to manage the contributions.
It wasn't long before Woodburn Proud broadened its agenda. They organized cleanup crews for various sites around the city. They staged 5k Fun Runs and Woodburn Appreciation Nights. They began selling a line of Woodburn Proud merchandise- tee-shirts, wristbands and car magnets- to raise money and promote community pride. They participated in campaigns to combat street crime.
On May 26th, 2009, a memorial honoring Tennant, Hakim and Russell was unveiled at the West Coast Bank. The monument was designed and constructed by Woodburn resident Don Sprague. Those attending the unveiling were joined in spirit by passersby who slowed their cars to honk and wave.
In June, after 6 months of surgeries and therapy, Chief Russell was ready to return to part time work. Woodburn held a picnic in his honor and he addressed a crowd of nearly 1200 well-wishers from his wheelchair.
By July 20, 2009, repairs to the West Coast Bank building were complete. The bank staged a grand reopening with catered food, balloons and flowers for the people of Woodburn.
In an official message marking the anniversary of the bombing, Mayor Kathy Figley wrote:
" Our community and the human community have risen to this awful occurrence with courage, faith and hope. While the worst of human nature is repulsive, we have seen the impact of the best of human nature in our community. When we are at our best, we are capable of some amazing things."
Later Woodburn Police Sgt. John Tlusty would put it more succintly:
"You have our back; we have yours."
We don't need a conspiracy theory to "explain" the crash of United Flight 93. The explanation is all around us, in heroes storming other cockpits:
A glass worker climbing into a burning building to rescue strangers trapped inside.
Neighbors joining hands to make a broken community whole again.
Rather than cast doubt, I think I will cast my lot with ordinary Americans and the miracles our combined humanity can sometimes make.
"Ok, there's a group of us and we're going to do something."
"I don't know who you are, but thank you."
"You have our back; we have yours."
That's all the conspiracy I need.
This link has a complete list of the passengers and crew on United flight 93, with biographies for each.
Sometimes you don't say all that you meant to say in the first post. I found myself leaving this comment at Don Surber and realized it belonged here, too:
911 is already a “day of service.” It was a “day of service” in 2001 as soon as the first responders turned on their sirens and headed downtown. They were the first Boots on the Ground in the War on Terror. It has been a “day of service” ever since the awful moment the final tower fell and people spontaneously wept and prayed over candles stuck into jars on the sidewalk. It became a “day of service” when family snapshots wrapped in plastic covered fences and walls, anguished, loving tributes scrawled beneath them. It was already a “day of service” when one of the first victims- a priest, killed while offering the last rites to another victim- was carried out of the carnage by grieving rescuers. And it was the ultimate “day of service” for the ordinary, homegrown heroes, who, still in midair, heard the rumors, looked at one another, and then told their captors: you can’t do this. We won’t let you.
Today can only be for remembrance. Today is for standing, saluting, bowing heads, and honoring the service already given.
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