A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are three: Chilling. Haunting. Gut-wrenching.
One glance at the newly-released aerial images from 9/11, and there’s no other way to describe the reaction that naturally grips us.
Photo by Det. Greg Semendinger, NYPD, ABC News via AP
That day we lost so many innocent lives. And many more lives have followed. In an instant, it changed the course of my life – along with countless others.
It’s strangely fitting that these photos are being released as our military prepares for its biggest battle yet in Afghanistan. Some cynics might suggest it was “planned.” Personally, I don’t care when or why these photos are being made public.
New photos or not – there’s no denying that the trauma of that day has left an indelible wound on the American psyche.
As a tribute to those who perished in the attacks – and to my military brothers and sisters who have subsequently given their lives to protect our country and the freedoms we hold dear – I’m reposting my comments from last fall.
May those who died in 2001 – and in the years following – rest in peace. We will not forget.
Jeff
(”Remembering 9/11 – From – 9/11/09)
In his recent article at Slate.com, world affairs pundit Christopher Hitchens suggests that we’d be wise not to forget why the U.S. is in a long war against Islamic terrorism…
“…we don’t have the right to forget why we are in Afghanistan and Iraq in the first place: to make up for past crimes of both omission and commission and to help safeguard emergent systems of self-government that have the same deadly enemies as we do and to which, not quite incidentally, we gave our word.”
September 11, 2009 is at hand – the anniversary of one of the most devastating attacks ever on American soil. But, according to media reports, it seems we’re losing track of the fact that 3000 innocent American lives were lost when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers – as well as the Pentagon, and a remote field in Pennsylvania.
In wars past, a massacre often became a rallying cry for Americans:
“Remember the Alamo!”, “Remember Pearl Harbor!”, “Remember the Maine!” (the battleship attacked in a Cuban harbor at the start of the Spanish-American War).
I propose a rallying cry for the ongoing war against terrorism:
“Remember New York!”
I’m sure I’m not the first or only one to propose such a motto. But lately, it seems we need it more than ever. With economic woes overshadowing “interest” in Afghanistan, Americans seem to be forgetting we’re still locked in mortal combat against an ideology that wishes to destroy us. Every one of us. For them, it’s only a matter of time.
So where does that leave us on 9/11? Are we really so collectively short-sighted that we don’t remember New York City?
I served in Afghanistan in 2007. There were HMMWVs with New York City skylines etched on their turrets, emblazened with the words, “Never Forget” or “I Love NY.”
Today, public sentiment seems to be decidedly against such a remembrance. To me, this is sad. It means 3000 Americans died for absolutely nothing.
They didn’t die for peace – for we are far from peace with the Islamic radicals who still spread fear and oppression to many in places like Afghanistan, the Sudan, Chad, Pakistan and many other Muslim countries. (Bear in mind that al Qaeda and the Taliban have killed more Muslims than non-Muslims in the name of their terrible jihad. The Quran absolutely repudiates this as immoral.)
They didn’t die for tolerance – for al Qaeda is no more tolerant today than they were in 2001.
They didn’t die for progress – for the Taliban have undermined whatever progress we’ve fought to bring to the many Afghans who can’t read, have no schools, no medical care, and no hope for a better life in their impoverished country.
What are we to say to the souls of those Americans who died simply because they had to go to work?
Shall we tell them we don’t care about Afghans or anyone who doesn’t happen to be American? Shall we tell them that freedom only counts when it’s our own freedom – the freedom to be apathetic?
Or shall we tell them we’ve forgotten about them? Their families will never forget. And neither should we.
Make no mistake – radical Muslims will continue to spread hatred against whatever they don’t control. Their ideology won’t stop, merely because we wish it to go away. It will not stop by simple diplomacy – this has been tried. You cannot hold rational discussions with irrational megalomaniacs. We could not talk rationally with Hitler, and we should not expect to be able to do so with Osama bin Laden or his followers.
Yes, I said it – I compared bin Laden with Adolph Hitler, the genocidal maniac of Nazi Germany. Like Hitler’s followers, bin Laden’s followers execute anyone who dares to stand up to them. The Taliban, bin Laden’s partners in evil, likewise terrorize Afghanistan in the name of what should be a holy religion. It’s the darkest form of evil imaginable – to kill, oppress and terrorize in the name of God.
Trust me, the terrorists will continue to celebrate September 11, 2001 as a great victory.
They will not forget. And neither should we.
Jeff
(For more insights about terrorism, Afghanistan or my story as a soldier, check out my book, “Afghan Journal: A Soldier’s Year in Afghanistan.” Learn more at the Afghan Journal website. Or order it at Amazon.com.)
