Minutes later, the newscaster broke in to say that there was an explosion at the Pentagon's heliport. What they were describing sounded fairly small and, since the true scope of what was happening was so slow to sink in, despite the rattling windows, it was easily dismissed as another false or overblown report among many that were coming in that morning.
More minutes later, with new information that a large plane had actually struck the Pentagon, we looked out of the windows of another office and could see confirmation of the scale of the attack: a large column of dark smoke rising from across the Potomac. The word came down, "Go home." We evacuated and began the long, chaotic journey home.
America and the world responded magnificently in the days that followed 9/11/2001. There's a true story about an encounter between the U.S.S. Winston Churchill and a German destroyer that nearly makes me cry every time I read it. For a brief period, the world was with us and we realized an unprecedented opportunity to fight terrorism. A brilliant campaign in Afghanistan, supported by the International community, routed the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attack and went a long way towards establishing a model democracy in the Middle East.
But then everything changed. The Iraq war and its mishandling made sure of that.
For the past six years, America has lived as a culture of fear. Fear of another attack. A nameless fear of anything that's not American. Alert levels. Fight them over there so we won't fight them here. Questioning the patriotism of anyone who disagrees with the government. If you don't elect Republicans, the terrorists win. This fear has been encouraged by the Administration, who have used the fear as an excuse for their own power grabs, limiting civil liberties and ignoring international law. For six years, EVERYTHING has been about the fear. This will be the most damaging legacy of the Bush administration.
USA Today ran a headline yesterday, Is 9/11 Becoming Just Another Calendar Date? This is a profoundly stupid question. 9/11 was a defining moment in American history and I doubt many Americans alive that day will ever forget where they were and what they were doing when the world changed. But it's necessary and healthy for people to move on, for Americans to look forward to new challenges. A life lived in fear is not much of a life.
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. - FDR's first inaugural address, 1933.Of course there are still people out there who want to kill us. Of course we must remain vigilant and defend our nation against attack. But we must do so while preserving those things that make America great. We don't win by throwing out the Constitution to create an illusion of safety. We don't win by living out the remainder of our lives in fear. If we don't reject the culture of fear, then the terrorists truly have won.
I work in a city that's either number one or number two on the hit list of every anti-American terrorist in the world. There's a non-negligible chance that I will come in to work one day and be vaporized in a mushroom cloud. Or irradiated by a dirty bomb. That's reality.
I can always quit my job and move to the country. Or I can keep my job and be afraid all the time. Six years into the culture of fear, I choose neither.
I choose to reclaim my life and reject the fear.
6 comments:
Don't you mean "six" years ago today?
I don't know what you're talking about. :-)
Good for you. Very nice essay.
It's not just the Bushies that are keeping 9/11 alive for their own purposes. The victims' survivors are doing it also. I read a story in the NYT that Mayor Bloomberg wanted to have the 9/11 commemoration not at Ground Zero this year but across the street at the memorial. The victims' families would have none of it.
I know this sounds tasteless but it's time for these people to get on with their lives. As tragic as 9/11 was, ultimately, it's no different for the individual family member than if their loved one had died of a heart attack or in a car accident. They continue to use 9/11 as a form of emotional blackmail to gather sympathy and attention. The combination of the families and the Administration's desire to use 9/11 for political purposes has led to incessant wallowing in the event. Certainly, 9/11 should be remembered but shouldn't there be some statute of limitations for maudling celebrations?
Mark, I think that's a rather churlish take on the 9/11 families. I can understand their desire to continue to memorialize their lost loved ones and I can understand their desire to hold the memorial at Ground Zero.
To compare their situation to the cynical manipulation of the public by the Bush administration in furtherance of its own sinister goals is not fair. The 9/11 families have done nothing compared to the devastation wrought by the administration.
Oops. Sorry, Marc. Typed your name without thinking about the proper spelling.
Post a Comment