Whether you believe the conspiracy theories about 9/11 or are more grounded in the explanations and findings of the 9/11Commission Report, one indisputable fact has surfaced; America has been dealt a blow that we have never recovered from.
For those who insist our own government officials played some dark role in the tragedy and or treachery of 9/11, they must accept the fact that their questions are unlikely to ever be answered. Their efforts to ferret out any hard verifiable evidence to support their accusations will just as unlikely garner any more success than those seeking the truth about the assignation of JFK.
For those that are convinced 9/11 was indeed a well-planned and executed terrorist operation instigated and financed by Osama bin Laden, they will eventually be forced to conclude that Al Qaeda has won this war. Even if we are able to dispute and discredit conspiracy theorist over the events that took place on this horribly memorable occasion, we must admit the barons of Wall Street aided and abetted the so-called terrorist by their greed for wealth in the aftermath, along with the Washington neo-con elite’s eagerly clamping down on its own citizens.
Eight years after that dreaded day in American history, we have yet to rebuild the World Trade Center site, we have yet to complete the 9/11 Memorial, we have yet to capture and bring to justice the one man who has claimed responsibility for the attack. Hell, we can not even find a way to insure that middleclass Americans will not die broke and broken due to an unforeseen illness. Eight years after that fateful day, many Americans have been left in financial ruin while the rest are left fighting for dwindling jobs and other necessary resources. Even worse, eight years later, we can’t afford to educate our children, we can’t secure our southern borders against gun runners and dope dealers; not to mention lacking the ability to respond to any large scale natural disaster.
Since 9/11 2001, America has been on a steady decline and no body has found a way to stop the slide. We have been convinced to give up of many of our rights and privileges for national security, we have spent billions/trillions fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while in the process, we have destroyed our standing in the world as a credible leader.
The previous administration successfully sold the overly simplistic notion that our enemies wanted nothing more than to kill Americans and deny us the freedoms we have fought and died for. We were told that international terrorist hated America and would stoop to any level to bring this country to its knees. We were told if we did not take the fight to them, they would be fighting us on Main Street USA. Sadly, out of shear fear and ignorance, we believed everything we were told and followed blindly down a path of national disgrace and self-destruction.
In response to this crisis, our leaders led by Dick Cheney came to our rescue with tools like the Patriot Act, National Security Letters, warrant-less wiretaps, government access to American’s financial records and transactions, as well as access to e-mail and snail mail alike.
When the American people looked to its leaders in Congress for leadership, guidance, protection and oversight, we stared into the glassy eyes of a surprised congress too weak and cowardly to stand up and challenge their equals in government. When Americans sought information from the mainstream media, we saw nothing more than an institution allowing it’s self to be used as a “ministry of information” operating at the whim of a very suspect White House.
To this day, the vast majority of Americans would not know the difference between Al Qaeda and the Taliban or a Shiite and a Sunni or even more pathetic, have a clue about those who follow the teachings of the Koran. Thus, we have also lost the war of knowledge and information.
So as we pay our respects to the families of those who lost their lives eight years ago, we are also forced to realize our country has been damaged severely, with little if any hope for a full recovery.
Where we as a nation go from here is unclear; but what is clear, is the fact that no new positive direction is possible without abandoning our current form of hyper partisanship, racial/religious divides and class separatism. We as a nation must realize that not every threat to our security is foreign and that more often than not we are our own worst enemy.