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June 15 - 30, 2003 |
VOL. 1 ISSUE 5 |
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THE LESSON OF 9/11 There Is One Thing American's Should Have Learned From This Day Of Tragedy. Have We? By Thomas J. Bico, Editor-in-chief |
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The first mistake most of us made – and I would include myself in this – was to ignore what our government is really up to. I didn’t know or care about our government sending money to someone in a place called Afghanistan, or financing one side against the other in the Iraq-Iran war. I didn't know or really care about the details of the Iran-Contra affair. I cringed and turned the other way when sloppily dressed people tried to talk to me about what the CIA was up to here or there.
During our current post-9/11 period of warfare, we have had a general assumption put to us: that we should be thankful there is not a liberal in office, that we are lucky to have such a hard-liner, because only such a person can deal with this mess. We saw the many protestors in the street, and many of us labeled them wrong, some of us sided with them. But none of us really saw who was there.
Down there were the people who had been telling us for years, “Get the CIA out of,” “Stop the CIA from meddling in,” “Did you know your taxpayer dollars are going to finance and arm butchers and people who disregard human rights.” Those were the people. There they were, out in the streets, yes, arguing against an imminent invasion of Iraq, but there was another message. As many of us decided these protestors were wrong in the short term, we never considered who had been right in the long term.
In the days since 9/11, we have seen many patterns begin to repeat. At Tora Bora, when Osama bin Laden and his top leaders were cornered in Afghanistan, instead of sending troops in to finish them off, we gave money and arms to butcherous Afghan warlords and asked them to kill for us. Isn’t that what we did originally with Osama?
In Iran, we have decided to undertake a policy of destabilizing the government? Isn’t that how we began the anti-U.S. movement in the first place, leading to the beginning of terrorism and the taking of the hostages back in the late 1970’s? (see Bush Plans To Destabilize Iran)
These specific policies aside, the Iraq war aside, there is only one really important question. The lesson of 9/11 was that we can not stick our heads in the sand. That not paying attention, not allowing ourselves to be bothered, does not allow us to not become involved. That what we don’t pay attention to now can, and will one day down the road, come back to get us, possibly killing one of us, our spouses, children, our economy, our freedom and way of life.
So the only thing to ask yourself to see if you have learned the lesson of 9/11 is: Are you really paying attention now?
A military battle in Iraq is easy to see, especially with 5,000 embedded reporters and 24 hour news coverage, but were you aware that we are using the CIA to overthrow the Iranian government once again. Do you notice each day as the protests grow there, and their government claims we are behind stirring up the unrest. You don’t have to go to weird, backroad or doubtful sources – it is reported right on MSNBC, ABC, the Washington Post. Do you notice?
Do you know about the insurgency role our government has chosen to play in Columbia, sending tens of millions of your dollars in arms and support so one side in a brutal, four-decade-long civil war can try to kill the other side? Sound familiar? Or that already Colombian terrorists have been arrested in Texas trying to buy stinger missiles, with the goal of selling them to al Qaeda so they can use them to shoot down your plane as you make your next trip to see your family? (see Bush Thanks Osama, Saddam for Salvaging Republican Party)
Did you know about Tora Bora? Do you know what else we are up to around the world, and what role the candidates you may plan to vote for have in this? Do you know why the man President Bush has made our U.N. Ambassador, John Negroponte, is called Colonel Death by many in Central America, and about the fury those who blame him for the death and torture of their loved ones feel seeing him given a luxurious post in our government? Do you still feel only hippies and annoying activists should pay attention to this stuff? Do you know who Elliot Abrams – the man who President Bush just put in charge of our Middle East policy – is, and why he had to be pardoned by President Bush’s father in the past?
It is easy to sit and cheer military success or ignore things out of frustration or fear. But we owe it to both those who died on 9/11 and those of us who live in this new post-9/11 world of fear and war to learn the lesson of that horrible day. Our soldiers are busting their butts and giving their lives (about 1 per day still dying in Iraq), but are we doing our part, busting our butts to get caught up on and stay on top of current affairs and the dealings of our government and actions of the people we vote for?
The dollars you earned today at work are being used to finance many things around the world – the results of which will shape the country and world you and your loved ones live, and die, in. Are you paying attention yet? |
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