Five Years Later....

[dawn_felagund]

A Quick Introductory Note:I have written this post for myself because I want most of all for my journal to be just that: a journal that I can look upon in a few--or many--years time. I am leaving it unlocked, however, because I think [hope?] that discussing and thinking about these things will help us in the end, whether in the practical sense of

Comments

[mirien]

A small Brit perspective here and short becasue of the hour, but I will try for coherence

[dawn_felagund]

Of course it is appropriate! :) I am glad that my post inspired you to share your own story. Thank you for this. :)

I know that working in law enforcement now (though only as a geek), I think often of my uniformed coworkers and the chances that they take every day in keeping everyone else safe. I have no doubt that they would have stood beside their NYPD colleagues, and that brings it home for me, somehow. I hope that this makes sense. :)

It really takes a special person to go into emergency services. I admire you all. I could not do it.

[rhapsody11]

Darn Dawn, the personal part made me cry

[dawn_felagund]

But as much as 9/11/01 changed your life... do you remember 10/12/02, 03/10/04, 11/02/04 or 07/07/05?

I do. :) I remember that we are at the ocean this year on the anniversary of the London attacks. I remember talking about it with Bobby and thinking especially of Marta, who lost a friend that day. (You probably know this.) And thinking of how so many people lost friends and loved ones that day.

but if you want to be a moral leader or government - the most superior in the world if I should believe Bush-, than start with yourself.I could not agree with you more here. I love my country, but I find myself so embarrassed sometimes online to say that I'm American. I almost want to shout, "But I'm not like them!" Because I look at how we (as a nation) whine and cry about how we are treated in foreign countries, especially the Middle East...then we turn around and do the same thing. Abu Ghraib...so many Americans thought that saying, "Well, we're just doing to them what they do to us!" was an excuse. They refused to see how evil those

[ssotknapsack]

The "War on Terror" it is called. But is it even a war? According to the current administration, it is. Through a dodgy system of reasoning that has eluded me for many years now, we are at war in Iraq because of terrorism. Or that's what we were told.This morning I found out through the news that Bush had a primetime TV appearance last night, three minutes of which was spent remembering the victims of 9/11, and 17 minutes of which was spent justifying all the wars he started. It angered me so, to see him use such an important anniversary for his own gains. But it didn't surprise me

[dawn_felagund]

This morning I found out through the news that Bush had a primetime TV appearance last night, three minutes of which was spent remembering the victims of 9/11, and 17 minutes of which was spent justifying all the wars he started.

Yeah, I read that first thing in the morning on 9/12. He is still trying to make a connection between Iraq and Al-Quaeda. It doesn't exist, pal! Bin Laden and Hussein hated each other because Bin Laden thought that Hussein was a bad Muslim. Ah, but now we've cleared Hussein out of Iraq so that religious fundamentalism can take hold. Out of the frying pan and into the fire....

"They just keep jumping out of the buildings! Oh god..."You know, I missed that footage. And I am glad. Well, after the initial shock of watching the news constantly for updates, I didn't watch it anymore. I won't watch it again and again. Some people need to, I know, but I don't

[ssotknapsack]

You know, I missed that footage. And I am glad.

I missed it too, actually. It's one of the few things I didn't see, and I can only guess that the news channels felt it was too intense to replay it, or perhaps irrelevant given what happened an hour later when the towers collapsed.

This makes me mad. In the midst of a national tragedy, does it occur to people that the person serving them behind the counter might have family working in the Pentagon or friends in New York or kids to pick up early from school? Or just want to be with her family?

That was all I wanted: to be with family. It felt right; selling reeds and lesson books didn't.

Maybe Kurt and I were throwbacks to human-ness, but you wouldn't believe the way our innocent, "Are we closing early?" queries were treated by the DM and head office. "Cloooooosing eaaaaaarly?! But we have valve oil to sell to soccer moms in giant SUVs!"

Thanks for sharing your story. It made me cry because so many of your thoughts were so close to my own, not surprisingly. *hugs**Huggles* And I

[dawn_felagund]

And I had no idea that you were so alone at that time, and it made me really sad to read it and to be surprised by it five years on.

It's okay; please don't feel bad. :) I was in a self-imposed exile then, so any "aloneness" was my fault more than anyone else's.

[fanged_geranium]

I think that the only good to come from 9/11 was the (2002?) fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, but we ('The West') should have acted earlier, as soon as we found out about that government's evil (and un-Islamic) repression of the population, particularly the women. It's a pity the job wasn't finished, (and is perhaps millitarily impossible) but perhaps if we had acted sooner there needn't have been a war.

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, I remember my sister sending me articles and talking about the Taliban years before 9/11 happened, particularly the way that women were treated. If anything, 9/11 was a big slap to the face of many, but I still don't think that (five years later) we've made enough significant change to keep it from happening again. (And of course, it has: Madrid and London, in particular. But it will happen again in the US, too.)

[atanwende]

I still remember 9/11 far too well. It was a beautiful day over here as well and all I could think of was how something like this could happen on such a wonderful late summer day. I was informed about the attacks via a phone call and when I switched on TV it looked like that one wide shot after the meteorite shower in Armageddon. It was scary. Especially when I realized that one of the towers was completely gone. On this day I was helping a girl from our neighbourhood with maths and when I sat there in the living room drinking cool fruit juice and with the sunshine outside I couldn't understand how people could carry on like it was just another day. But then, NY is thousands of miles away. And still, for me it felt like things wouldn't be the same

[dawn_felagund]

I believe that you can be tolerant and open-minded and still have such fears. Actually, there is very strong evidence that this is a natural human reaction. We all have biases, even if in our heart of hearts we know that they're not true. I have the same thoughts sometimes on planes or riding into DC on the Metro.

The great irony, to me, has always been how the actions of radical Moslems so often lead to the deaths of more Moslems (who are most often not even radical). Then again, I guess it goes hand-in-hand with how the actions of uninformed Americans leads to the deaths of more Americans who are not necessarily so uninformed, i.e. troops overseas. It's such a vicious cycle, and I think that having the courage to admit our fears and biases rather than letting them control us is a good step towards breaking it. :)