9/11 - By The Numbers

total deaths in 9/11 attacks = 3,030
total coalition troop deaths in Afghanistan = 476
total coalition troop deaths in Iraq = 2,902
range of civilian deaths in Iraq since U.S. invasion = 41,650 (min) / 46,318 (max)

Innocence was lost that day five years ago. The United States was always vulnerable to a terrorist attack but September 11 demonstrated that like the Titanic invincibility is merely a fantasy.

Some have said that the 9/11 attacks are a case of the chickens coming home to roost. That perspective is too narrow and harsh in my opinion. I tend to see these events more broadly as the shattering of an illusion. Yes the United States is great in many ways, but we are not immune from such horrible acts. The rest of the world has experienced this type of suffering. Attacks on civilian populations have occurred throughout history in every part of the globe. Sadly, sometimes this suffering has been at the hand of the United States. For me this day was a confirmation that reality is indeed cruel.

Confusion spread over the U.S. landscape that day. Did we as a nation allow ourselves enough time to mourn? Instead of supplanting that feeling of dread and anomie with some type of understanding we were shuttled along a myopic crusade of revenge.

Our leaders quickly seized the moment and put us on a war footing. Uncle Sam was going on the attack. Pre-emption, bitches! What should have been a quest for justice became a campaign of vengeance. Our civil liberties became prey to government predators. The entire world was put on notice—don’t fuck with us or else we will annihilate you, or at least put a boot up your ass while we duct tape our houses and wait cautiously for any slight change in the color-coded terror alert chart.

I remember feeling that brief moment of unity after the attacks. Americans came together despite their socially constructed differences. People across the world displayed their sympathy. It’s tragic how far we’ve fallen from that initial unity. On 9/12 the GOP reinvented its identity by co-opting the pain of 9/11 families and using it to fulfill their imperial fantasies under the guise of freedom and democracy. The Democrats…well, need I say more?

Now the country is stuck in this myopic crusade with no way out. President Can’t Admit a Mistake has pledged he’ll pass on the mess he’s made in IraqIranLebaAfghanistan to his successor. Only a lunatic would want to inherit the presidency in 2008…perhaps Bill Frist is nutty enough for the job?

I have no solutions or answers to this mess. I feel like a spectator watching these weird events unfold over the past five years. At this point I should be happy if I can board an airplane in less than two hours. Always look on the bright side, right?

Comments

[Crusader AXE of the Lost Causes]

We're really all bozos on this bus. Unfortunately, some of us think we're driving...

I remember one of my staff; her dad was between jobs as an executive in the transportation industry, and he had an interview at the World Trade Center that morning. We're in Seattle, her Mom is in Chicago and Dad is...all I could do was put my hands on her shoulders, hold on and tell her we would do whatever was necessary to help in whatever way we could. The meeting had been moved to the Marriott, and he survived. Mrs. AXE is totally a-political; she immediately announced on my arrival home that Saddam Hussein had done it.

So, my computer geek wife and the President of the United States came to the same conclusion. Except, she figured out that she was wrong. Hell, I immediately pegged ragheaded motherfuckers, but somehow Saddam didn't figure in my equation. Nobody canny enough not to use Chemical Weapons against the coalition it 1991 would be stupid enough to pull a move like this in 2001.

Well shame on us. As we watch Afghanistan devolve into greater chaos and the real possibility of a NATO defeat, as we watch Iraq go bonkers, we are looking at our war of Jenkins Ear. Only, we're not winning...

[e_five]

I blame Emmanuel Goldberg. He is the cause of all our problems. And also the Defeatists in the media, activist judges, the climate of liberalism in Boston, secularism, Darwin, science, and Hollywood.

[Comandante Agi]

don't forget the IslamoFascistMusComTerrist appeasers

[BC]

There is certainly no quick fix to the mess. Personally, I think it shows that people are people. We are all subject to belief in exceptionalism and 'It won't happen to us' mentality.

I can bet that, if asked, most Germans couldn't comprehend doing some of the acts committed during WW2. However, with the right forms of manipulation, they did.

It is a revolting idea to think that we too, with the right manipulation, could commit atrocities. Atrocities such as torture, agressive acts of war, setting up secret courts and holding people indefinitely without trial have been done by Americans.

I can bet that, if asked, most Americans couldn't comprehend doing some of the acts committed during the Bush Presidency. However, with the right forms of manipulation, they are.

=my2c

BC