Saturday, September 9, 2023
As an American citizen who witnessed the terrible tragedy on that fateful day, I could never begin to describe all that I felt back then, mainly because I couldn’t digest it all at once. When life-changing events like this one occur, it can’t be disseminated factually, for years sometimes. It has to be digested, regurgitated, over and over to fully understand the meaning of the attack. I was having breakfast when I saw what was happening on TV. I sat there awestruck as the second airplane rammed into the twin tower. I called the airport, and the airline I worked for, and of course I couldn’t get through; everyone was calling. The thing I remember most about that day was how beautiful the sky was, not a single cloud, azure blue and silent. I couldn’t understand why and how something like this could happen.
As a person born in a Third World country, and with so many years of reflection, I can absolutely understand why it happened, and why the arrogance of us, as U.S. citizens, allowed it to happen. We were so content in our own universe; the economy was thriving, gas prices low; we had internet and cable, and the summer home by the lake and the Hummer; and the niggers were being kept in check by thuggish cops, and the schools were safe, and God was on our side, and we were no. 1, and life was good. That was the American spirit, the American way, the only way! The hell with the rest of the world—we had ours, go get yours! We had, under George the Elder, put Saddam Hussein in his place a decade earlier, which worked out well, because he was now containing Iran. See? Life was good!
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the ubiquity of the American military presence in the area was offending certain groups, which was understandable. It was, after all, a sort of quasi-colonialism, and let’s not forget the religious implications involved. The Soviet Union had just been shattered, the Chinese were still struggling to become a dominant force, Japan was floundering, and Europe was bound to America like a baby to its mother’s teats! There were signs of discontent, acts of terrorism, but I don’t believe anyone paid attention to the grievances of a small minority of discontents, kinda like the way UBAD was treated by the Price administration. Unlike UBAD, these groups wanted retribution through violence, which they believed was the only way they could get rid of the devils, the unbelievers! So they did the unthinkable, with relative ease, and changed America, and the American way of life, forever!
It didn’t take a country, an army, to bring the greatest country in the history of the world almost to its knees, almost! It was a band of zealots, religious zealots who didn’t worry about dying for what they believed in—the most dangerous kind of enemy. What can one do to stop people who aren’t afraid of dying? Not a damn thing, until after the fact! Then, after fully realizing the damage done to the American psyche, the death and destruction caused, using our own weapons against us, America struck back, with a vengeance, and changed the landscape of the Middle East, the world, once again!
911 is sacred to Americans, and it should be! But we should never forget that some of the responsibility for that attack rests on us, and on the shoulders of our leaders, for being clueless about the consequences of our actions and interference in the affairs of other countries. Not understanding their cultural, religious and economic values! Other countries have suffered much more terrible losses and have not been able to recover, and life goes on, and we know why. They’re not no. 1, or no. 2.
On this 22nd anniversary of the attack, we should look inwards and question our actions and inactions, our callous ignorance towards the rest of the inhabitants of the little world we live in. We should accept the fact that we are all human beings, mostly wanting the same things: to live and prosper and thrive and be good citizens of the world, but especially of our own countries. As an optimist by nature, I believe we can. Then there’s Trump!
Glen