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Remembering 9/11

beaker

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My uncensored thoughts on 9/11 and other geo political fronts

Originally I was planning on taking 9/11 off to reflect and be away offline. Like many of you I am online on a near daily business. I watched some of the coverage today and reflection, and investigative reports. I felt teared up at some of the stories, like about the pilots and air traffic controllers.

I remember waking up one year ago today...it doesnt even seem like more than 6 months ago...it was a very dark overcast morning, so i knew something was off. I was about to go to the library to do the net, and my mom said jumbo jets had crashed into the WTC, Pentagon, and another one was heading for the white house. Being steeped in movies and novels(clancy stuff) and the like i thought 'holy ****! this cant be' So I turned on the news, very surreal...the headline was not past tense, it was 'American Under Attack'. Thats a very scary headline to read(it would later change to 'Attack on America')

Before I get to a lot of what you are saying, and mind you what a lot are saying I agree with...here are a few very controversial but what I believe correct assumptions:

*I believe 9/11 may have been prevented had the FBI listened to actor James Woods. It is a fact that 4 of the 19 hijackers happened to be on a flight 2 weeks prior James Woods was on. He felt there was an emmient threat with these men, and alerted authorities. the FBI contacted him on 9/12 and brought him in, letting him know, indeed, his hunch was right. Not to throw fault, but so many institutional barriers and communication breakdowns were in place...someone could have told about 9/11 explicitly on 9/10 to the CIA and FBI might have never known. If only the CIA had worked with the FAA to let them know about these terrorists...wells lets just say if America's airlines were screened like Israeli airlines 9/11 would have just been a plan.

*Quite a few of the problems the US has with the middle east and gulf is because of American's insistence on drivingbig ol SUVs. If fuel efficency and the buying of gas efficent cars were the norm, and people werent so 'me me me' less in the bed politics with Saudi Arabia would be afoot.

*The 80's. everything nexused in 1989. That was the end of the US BACKED pre Taliban Mujahadeen Afghani fighters against Russian war, and the birth of Bin Laden's Al Qaeda. The late 90's and early zeroe's rise of Bin LAden and his terrorist group was a direct link to the US backing and arming of them in the 80's to fight the Russians.

>>>It's a perfect way to illustrait that war is basically fought over differences. In it, two groups of people kill eachother and go to war over what side of the toast you butter!<<<

Most people wont admit that a lot of times war is fought over religion...look at the 20th century in repsects to Ireland, or the current middle east thing.

>>>It hardly seems like a year - i can remember what i was doing right now a year ago.<<<

couldnt agree more...the lesson, well one of them...is too live life to the fullest.

>>>I still think Bin Laden was trumped up as the villain in order to give the public someone to focus on. I don't doubt he was involved, but I do doubt that he was the monster at the head of the whole attack and that his death/capture would end any future attacks<<<

Couldnt disagree more...in the past the US has villified beyond an evil persona certain heads of state, but this time around(if youve seen any number of timeline investigative reports or read about it) Bin Laden is villain #1 with Saddam for a good reason. Anyone who thinks Bin Laden was not responsible or isnt the main bad guy is kidding themselves.

>>>If either Saddam or Bin Laden were to unleash nuclear weapons on either the USA or UK <<<

Yes, then the 'hmm, maybe we should have gone in there, darn!' talk woul dbe too late. However, if th eUS does go into Iraq that could actually initiate a worst case scenario.

In closing...I would like to point out a bit of contrast.
I belive 9/11 was more horrific than Peral Harbor because 9/11 was mostly civilians. Pearl Harbor was not a part of the US yet, and it was all millitary people in a time of war.

I would also like to say , noone has mentioned that while 3000 is bad...what about when the US murdered 300,000 innocent Japanese civilians just a few decades ago? that to me is an equally or graver unjustice.

So in closing, hopefully something good has come of all this 9/11 madness...and its odd how one maniac can change America and the world forever. What can we do to better life tho int he aftermath?
 

towels

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Originally posted by EmmyMik
More than anything else, September 11 showed me what it was to be an American. It doesn't matter how many flags you own or how many things you paint red, white, and blue. It's the meaning behind those flags that matter.

Since that day the battle cry has been "Freedom!" People talk about this country, and "freedom", yet they look the other way when it comes to security. Yes, it would be horrible if we didn't do anything to prevent another attact, but don't trample on the Constitiution, and don't talk about preserving freedom when you take it away. That's not what this country is about.
You know...that reminds me...

one of the big billboards that went up after 9/11 (one of those public service type things) proclaimed "UNITY... makes America great" which always seemed odd to me because all growing up I had been led to believe that it was America's diversity that made it so unique and globally respected. The great melting pot and all that.
 
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