Yes, I remember exactly where I was that day. I had been out and about and had just returned to the BOQ where I was living then. The S.O. called me and told me the World Trade Center had been attacked. I thought there was a mistake in translation somewhere. I flipped on NHK and then saw the truth-right about the time the first tower collapsed.
I know people who were working in the Pentagon that day. That was equally horrific as was the tragic loss of Flight 93 that day.
Jeffery Goldberg has expressed it well-“That is the crucial truth of 9/11. Osama Bin Laden had gathered to him men who were devoid of love, and who found in al Qaeda a vehicle for expressing their hatred of humanity. On the 10th anniversary of the murderous rampage committed by soulless men, we should remember the victims, and count our own blessings, and recommit ourselves to the suppression of evil and the protection of the innocent. ”
I will always remember and will never forget. But in doing so, it also means that I will never forget what came in its aftermath, much of which was-to put it bluntly-misdirected effort, in response to a unique event, the likes of which most of us had never seen before.
Its important, therefore, to look at 9-11 for what it is, a deliberate act of cold blooded murder. The fact that is so does not, however, provide a blanket absolution for the the myriad of flawed events that followed in its wake. We have extracted our vengance for that horrible day a 100 times over. The cost of doing so has been huge-and we will debate the wisdom of those subsequent decisions for years.
Guys like Dick Cheney, and George Bush and others-believe the horror of 9-11 gives them a pass on responsibility for flawed decision making subsequent to the event. I say no. The rat holes of the wars that have been pursued in the years following , and the very avoidable -and equally tragic-costs, cannot be just wiped away just because we were the victims on a particular day.
We can though, remember that day with honor-and vow to move forward into a better future than what those murderers tried to inflict upon us. All of our worlds changed that day-and I for one wish that day could be undone. I want my world of September 10, 2011 back. But its never coming back.
9-11 will always be with us. But we can work hard to restore the world that once was before.
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