The anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the US has finally come, and it's hard to organize my thoughts about how I feel about it. September 11 was, without question, one of the scariest days I've had, but in a very removed way.
I've had breakdowns in light of a job going all wrong, and cried at the thought of my brother dying in the hospital of a drug overdose. While those were tough days for me, 9/11 was tough as well, in a totally different way. Trying to get a handle on what that day means for me is what's difficult.
First we have extensive media coverage. That is pretty much to be expected. I don't need a recount of what happened that day. We all remember that. What I need is the stories of the people who were most involved in the tragedy. Thus far, I've been impressed with the coverage on ABC, as that's what they've been doing, telling stories. I'm interested in the stories, because they fill in the blanks of a disaster that is otherwise just the destruction of a building.
Days like this are most centered on remembering the people and all that went on that day. It's good to be partiotic and have faith in what people, our people, are capable of in extraordinary times. But tomorrow we must ask ourselves why it happened, and take a brutally honest look at our government's foreign policy and our role in the world.
In asking those questions, we need to look beyond the right and wrong aspect of the attacks. Of course they were wrong... no one is justifying what the terrorists did. We need to ask what would drive people to hate our country so much that they would do that. The "because they hated our freedom" isn't the answer. There are deeper answers to consider.
I know that one of my personal frustrations is that we're a little too selective about what we get involved with. We went to Kuait in a heartbeat when it was invaded, but when Yugoslavia was killing itself we did little to stop it. Getting involved with both conflicts was the right thing to do, but we didn't. The implications on national infrastructure, economy and such were great in the Gulf War, but not in Eastern Europe. We were one of few nations with the ability to do something about Yugoslavia, but didn't because it had little effect on us. We were a sideline player.
Now we want a "regime change" in Iraq. There's no question the US can do that, but is it right? So far the only reason we've heard is that "Saddam will eventually have weapons of mass destruction." Will he? Probably. Is it right for us to start bombing a country without the proof? That isn't clear. Certainly our allies say "no."
There will always be radicals who feed on terror. It's not even fair to call them human beings. But looking beyond that, it's time our elected officials decide what exactly our role is in the global village. We have to be good neighbours. We need to find the balance between upholding our values and ideology and doing the right thing in the context of our world. We don't need everyone to like us, but let's make sure we don't inadvertantly give people reasons to hate us.
That, in my opinion, is how our country moves forward. For now, let's tell the stories of the people we loved, lost and immortalize in our minds as a part of that tragic day.
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