9/11 thoughts
So, ten years ago, I was in the MA program at JMU. I had fallen into the habit of turning on CNN in the morning before I left for my first class. 9/11 was a Tuesday, which meant I had a labor history seminar first thing, followed by the class that I was TAing for. Lora was working at Walmart at the time; she drove me onto campus before going to work.
When I turned on the TV that morning, CNN was reporting that an airplane had hit one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. There was speculation about how it was probably some sort of pilot accident, maybe a technical error. There was certainly no thought of how much damage would ensue. We were running a little late, so we headed out. I recall joking with Lora that Gary Condit was probably the only person in the US who was happy about the plane crash - this was at the height of the whole Chandra Levy thing. I mentioned to the class about the plane, but they had already heard. We proceeded through that class as normal.
The class I was TA for was meeting in the library that day for a tour of the computer system; in the intro History classes, we liked to show the students how to access material, especially archival material, through the school library. When I got to the library, we heard that a second plane had his the Trade Center, and a third had hit the Pentagon, and that the word was that this was terrorists and not an accident. The professor and I discussed cancelling the class, which we ultimately did. Shortly there after, the school closed for the day - I went home, and I think Lora and I spent the rest of the day kinda stunned by the whole thing. I think that was probably a universal reaction. We got in touch with family. Lora and I had tickets to go to visit my parents in Winnipeg in December; we weren't sure if that was going to be possible - we weren't sure if air travel would ever be possible again, frankly.
Later that week, there must have been some sort of announcement about Afghanistan. On Friday the 14th, I wrote the following. I didn't have anywhere to put it at the time, and I wasn't sure how it would be received. I'm still not entirely sure how it will be received, frankly, but I'm going to post it anyway:
"This is a time of mourning, and I mourn. Not only do I mourn the thousands of innocents killed so brutally by the terrorist attacks on Tuesday, I also mourn the thousands of innocents who will be killed in the retaliations for the attacks. I also mourn those people of Middle Eastern extraction who are now living in fear - not of attacks from outside the country, but from attacks by their neighbors. These retaliations are also terrorism. These attacks are also terrorism.
Allow me to restate that. Indiscriminate bombing of a civilian population is terrorism. Indiscriminate naval shelling of a civilian population is terrorism. Beating up the guy who works at the 7-11 down the street is terrorism. Throwing rocks at a mosque is terrorism. These acts cause terror, and these attacks hurt innocents. Whether these attacks are perpetrated by a government or by a mob, they do nothing to stop terrorist attacks - indeed, they increase terrorist attacks.
This is important. Terrorism cannot be fought through the use of military force. Terrorism grows out of a sense of anger and dissatisfaction. The use of military force merely increases anger and dissatisfaction. These emotions can be reduced only through the application of social justice, by addressing, on the ground, the issues which cause these emotions.
If a military response is necessary, it should be very carefully directed - not against the populations in which terrorists live, but against the terrorists very specifically. This is also important. Terrorists surround themselves directly and indirectly with innocents - this is how they protect themselves. Killing innocents is not a justifiable use of force - and it breeds more terrorists.
Consider - people support terrorists without knowing what they are doing - terrorists were dwelling in Florida, in Boston, possibly elsewhere within the US, and people every day sold them groceries, sold them gas for their cars, provided them with phone service, etc etc. These people were not knowingly aiding terrorists, had they known what horrible things were being planned by these people, I’m sure they would not have supported them. Thus, for us to attack a whole country for providing succor to terrorists is illogical, unjustified and, ultimately, counter productive.
We must be careful as we proceed through the next days, weeks and months. We cannot allow our pain, anger and sorrow to drive us to actions which we will regret in cooler retrospect. We cannot, in our currently swelled pride of country, act in such a way which will cause that pride to be reduced in later days. Our actions in the coming days are critical to the way in which we are viewed and the way in which we view ourselves when everything is finished."
When I turned on the TV that morning, CNN was reporting that an airplane had hit one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. There was speculation about how it was probably some sort of pilot accident, maybe a technical error. There was certainly no thought of how much damage would ensue. We were running a little late, so we headed out. I recall joking with Lora that Gary Condit was probably the only person in the US who was happy about the plane crash - this was at the height of the whole Chandra Levy thing. I mentioned to the class about the plane, but they had already heard. We proceeded through that class as normal.
The class I was TA for was meeting in the library that day for a tour of the computer system; in the intro History classes, we liked to show the students how to access material, especially archival material, through the school library. When I got to the library, we heard that a second plane had his the Trade Center, and a third had hit the Pentagon, and that the word was that this was terrorists and not an accident. The professor and I discussed cancelling the class, which we ultimately did. Shortly there after, the school closed for the day - I went home, and I think Lora and I spent the rest of the day kinda stunned by the whole thing. I think that was probably a universal reaction. We got in touch with family. Lora and I had tickets to go to visit my parents in Winnipeg in December; we weren't sure if that was going to be possible - we weren't sure if air travel would ever be possible again, frankly.
Later that week, there must have been some sort of announcement about Afghanistan. On Friday the 14th, I wrote the following. I didn't have anywhere to put it at the time, and I wasn't sure how it would be received. I'm still not entirely sure how it will be received, frankly, but I'm going to post it anyway:
"This is a time of mourning, and I mourn. Not only do I mourn the thousands of innocents killed so brutally by the terrorist attacks on Tuesday, I also mourn the thousands of innocents who will be killed in the retaliations for the attacks. I also mourn those people of Middle Eastern extraction who are now living in fear - not of attacks from outside the country, but from attacks by their neighbors. These retaliations are also terrorism. These attacks are also terrorism.
Allow me to restate that. Indiscriminate bombing of a civilian population is terrorism. Indiscriminate naval shelling of a civilian population is terrorism. Beating up the guy who works at the 7-11 down the street is terrorism. Throwing rocks at a mosque is terrorism. These acts cause terror, and these attacks hurt innocents. Whether these attacks are perpetrated by a government or by a mob, they do nothing to stop terrorist attacks - indeed, they increase terrorist attacks.
This is important. Terrorism cannot be fought through the use of military force. Terrorism grows out of a sense of anger and dissatisfaction. The use of military force merely increases anger and dissatisfaction. These emotions can be reduced only through the application of social justice, by addressing, on the ground, the issues which cause these emotions.
If a military response is necessary, it should be very carefully directed - not against the populations in which terrorists live, but against the terrorists very specifically. This is also important. Terrorists surround themselves directly and indirectly with innocents - this is how they protect themselves. Killing innocents is not a justifiable use of force - and it breeds more terrorists.
Consider - people support terrorists without knowing what they are doing - terrorists were dwelling in Florida, in Boston, possibly elsewhere within the US, and people every day sold them groceries, sold them gas for their cars, provided them with phone service, etc etc. These people were not knowingly aiding terrorists, had they known what horrible things were being planned by these people, I’m sure they would not have supported them. Thus, for us to attack a whole country for providing succor to terrorists is illogical, unjustified and, ultimately, counter productive.
We must be careful as we proceed through the next days, weeks and months. We cannot allow our pain, anger and sorrow to drive us to actions which we will regret in cooler retrospect. We cannot, in our currently swelled pride of country, act in such a way which will cause that pride to be reduced in later days. Our actions in the coming days are critical to the way in which we are viewed and the way in which we view ourselves when everything is finished."