September 11, Two-Thousand-Whenever

No matter how many times I have watched those planes burst into flames and those towers crumble like a stack of Jenga blocks, it never gets easier. It's not like a horror movie where you watch it over and over again and the scary gross bits are eventually not that bad anymore; these images are burnt onto my brain and only get harder to see.

I can't believe it's been 10 years today. We've been watching these pictures, dealing with this catastrophe, and mourning those that were lost for so long now.

I've been to Ground Zero only twice - once in 2008, the other last week. The difference between the gaping concrete hole that existed 3 years ago and the new emerging skyscraper is huge, and so was the memory. In 2008, there was no commercial 'memorial' and gift shop. There were items in the church across the street, where volunteers slept, ate, and were treated for injuries, which had been set up as a memorial to those who sacrificed what they could to help victims. It was a lot more real, and a lot more touching, than the store that they've established now. Don't get me wrong, it's still a horribly emotional experience, visiting the timeline, the photos, letters, and 'missing' posters that have been put on display in the new one. But when you reach the gift shop, you realise that after so long, it's not really about grieving anymore. It's about memory, yes, but it's also a commercial opportunity to keep people interested in, and emotionally affected by, these events.

Because how else can the war in Afghanistan, still going on, be justified? It began as a direct retaliation for the Taliban government harbouring Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. It has since cost the United States alone (never mind the other countries involved) a trillion dollars and the lives of more than 2,700 Coalition soldiers. A trillion dollars - I only ever thought that amount of money existed in the same places as amounts like "a gazillion" or "bajillions". And throughout the Global Financial Crisis, the slow recovery of the US economy, and it's now-rapidly-expanding debt, over one hundred billion dollars a year has a lot more useful ways it can be spent - and I'm no economic genius. The Taliban government were deposed. Osama bin Laden is (supposedly) dead, along with many other al Qaeda leaders. I understand that the purpose of war is to bring peace; you can't just waltz in, set off some bombs, kill some bad guys and bugger off again. I understand about establishing stable government, infrastructure, judicial systems, open and honest political systems to keep the citizens safe and so on. But enough already.

Because a "war on terrorism" was never going to be able to do these things. Waging war on an idea, on a method, on something so intangible - well, to me it about sums up the intelligence of George W. B. There was never going to be a day when a military leader would be able to turn around and say, "Well, we've got rid of that there 'terrorism' for ya George, whatcha want us to do next?" There are always going to be people fighting for ideals, and for values that are different from others. There will never be one global government, or one global religion. The world doesn't work like that, because people are different. And there will always be extremists - from all sides, nations, religions - who are willing to take innocent lives to scare or to shock people into their way of thinking.

No matter what your viewpoint on 9/11 and what's happened since - stunned observer, conspiracy theorist, Muslim, Christian, fundamentalist, atheist, outraged, affected or impassive individual - you cannot argue that this fight does not have an end on the battle field. By the time the US troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan - 2014 at this stage - 'terrorism' will not be gone.

"the people there are dead because we want them to be dead."
(Professor Marc W. Herold, University of New Hampshire, http://cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm)

No, Osama bin Laden did not say this. A Pentagon official did, in relation to the deaths of almost 100 residents of an Afghanistan farming village killed in an airstrike by the US.

September 11, 2001 - the catalyst for the ten years of war we have seen - almost 3,000 people were killed. The world is outraged at such a massive number of innocent civilian deaths.

Afghanistan - in the first 6 months of the war there are civilian deaths estimated between 3,000 - 3,400. Only part of the world knows or cares.

I have learnt a lot from my almost-year living in the Middle East. I've met a lot of people, from a lot of different backgrounds, and I understand a lot more about the world than I ever did from reading books and writing essays about it. That's why today, I'm sad because of the memory of September 11, but I'm also just as sad because of the series of events and deaths that have been inspired by it. These are the ones that are forgotten in the media hype and sensation, in the heart-wrenching documentaries and interviews with those affected by 9/11. Do we see the consequences of her husband's death for the Afghan widow left with a farm blown to pieces and a family to feed? There's more than one side to every story, and in the case of today there are thousands of individuals with a story to consider.

"When they put bombs in cars and kill people, they're uncivilized killers. When we put bombs on missiles and kill people, we're upholding civilized values. When they kill, they're terrorists. When we kill, we're striking against terror."

(Norman Solomon, http://www.fair.org/media-beat/980827.html)

What is the difference?


NB - I just read over this and it makes me sound like I am against the US. I am not against the retaliation for the events of 9/11, just against the way that it was structured and executed. I have a great deal of sympathy for those Afghani people who were against the Taliban, and who have suffered ten years of wartime because of the decisions of a regime which they did not even support.

I do not support terrorism, terrorist tactics, violence or military tactics designed to cause civilian deaths. Actually, I don't support death at all, civilian or military.

I believe that war has rules, and an old-value set of ethics attached to it. I do not believe that a "war on terrorism" ever had the potential or ability to meet these guidelines.

I am not confused. I know there is also a war in Iraq. To me, although it has been declared under the umbrella of 'the war on terrorism', the invasion of Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism or September 11. I deliberately chose to not mention it because then I tend to get angry, and upset, and go on and on ... and on...