BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
The Ironies of 911
While viewing America's solemn commemoration of the eighth anniversary of 911, I began to reflect upon its many ironies. The very first thing that came to mind was Dick Cheney's claim that Bush administration policies have kept us safe. My second thought was he must think we're crazy - and too many of us are.
When one looks upon the trauma, anger, and pain still etched upon the face of America eight years after the loss of 3000 of its citizens, one can only imagine what the Iraqi people are feeling after the documented murder, by name, of over 101,552 innocent men, women, and Iraqi children. Only after we begin to recognize the gravity of the atrocity that we committed in Iraq will America begin to understand that we will never be safe until we make the people responsible for that carnage accountable for their actions.
Americans have a tendency to discount the valued lives of people from other countries. We tend to forget that people outside our borders grieve and mourn the loss of their loved ones just as we do in America. So even as eight years later we grieve and commemorate the loss of 3000 Americans, the unjust murder of 101,552 innocent Iraqis - Iraqis whose only sin was that they sat on one of the world's largest oil deposits - tend to be just an abstract number to us. But as we mourn our own, we should stop to consider what that number represents.
If we stopped to consider that the population of Iraq is only one tenth that of the United States, we'd recognize that in order for a terrorist group to bring the kind of carnage and destruction that we've perpetrated upon the people of Iraq, they'd have to kill one million and seventy-one thousand innocent American men, women, and children. So as we grieve over 3000 American lives, just imagine what the people of Iraq must be feeling.
Each one of the 101,552 innocent Iraqis have friends and family who see us in the very same way that Americans look upon Osama Bin Laden. Then add to that, that if an undocumented worker can simply walk across the Rio Grande, so can an undocumented terrorist. Does that make you feel safer? If it does, you're a fool. American safety is only an illusion.
But life is about more than just being safe, there's also a moral component to this story. As we mourn the unjust deaths of our American compatriots, that anguish should be coupled with our outrage over that very same kind of injustice multiplied thirtyfour fold - that's been perpetrated upon the Iraqi people in our name. Anything less is to desecrate the memory of those we've lost, since those 3000 Americans didn't just die at the hands of terrorists, they, ultimately, died at the hands of injustice.
So the enemy is not just Osama Bin Laden. The true enemy is the moral depravation that Osama represents. Then under the guise of avenging our dead, the Bush administration perpetuated the very same kind of moral depravation in Iraq, and much more.
And for what? The 911 victims are still dead, and America is no better off than we were on September 12, 2001. On September 12, 2001 Osama Bin Laden was strutting around in the hills of Afghanistan thumbing his nose at America, and as I write this article on September 16, 2009, Osama Bin Laden is still strutting around in the hills of Afghanistan thumbing his nose at America.
The only difference between our situation today, and the day after 911, is that 4106 young American troops have joined the victims of 911 in death, and over 100,000 more have been wounded and left to live lives that will never be the same. In addition, America's stature in the world has been irreparably damaged, the U.S. Treasury has been ravaged, our economy has been brought to its knees, and the United States Constitution has been savagely attacked.
So the fact is, we're much worse off than we were the day after 911. America trusted Bush and Cheney to avenge our dead and protect our interests, but instead, they ignored our dead and promoted their own interests. Instead of going after Osama and making us safe, they went after the oil and enriched their cronies.
So the irony is, if it was Osama Bin Laden's goal to bring America to its knees, the Bush administration was his closest ally. Osama hit us at the perfect time - at a time when greed, irresponsibility, and corruption was at the helm of state. As a result, with the assistance of the Bush administration, Osama has been successful in possibly changing the character of America forever.
The excesses of these so-called super-patriots that we trusted to protect America played right into Bin Laden's hands. Even through America's pain these so-called patriots remained true to their creed - "Never let a good crisis go to waste." They took America's pain after 911 and used it to solidify their power, weaken our American ideals and institutions, then enriched themselves and their cronies. They've come just short of turning the United States into a Banana Republic.
And they're not done. Even as I speak the institution of the presidency is under attack, there's an asserted effort afoot to destroy the American economy, and elected officials are encouraging insurrection and even secession from the union. Yet, they tell us they're keeping us safe, while they themselves are the greatest threat to America.
So President Obama's hands are indeed full, and he's not going to be able to pull us out of this tailspin alone. This nation's founding fathers must be turning over in their graves as they watch the blatant sabotage of this nation. And if we listen closely, we can hear them screaming for all true Americans to stand in firm solidarity behind this president and help him to save this nation.
But at the same time, they're also speaking to the president. This is no time for the expediency of making deals with the devil. While our political initiatives are important, nothing is more important than protecting this nation from insurrection and tyranny from within, or the justified anger that we've created through our own tyranny outside of our shores. These issues must be addressed, and they can only be addressed through the rule of law.
We can no more expect to move forward with tyrants and war criminals within our midst than we could allow others to move forward if they were holding Osama Bin Laden. These monsters simply must be brought to justice - not only to atone for their brutalities abroad, but to address a malignancy at home.
Thus, the greatest irony of 911 by far, is the fact that those we trusted to protect this nation against further assault became so drunk from eight years of unfettered power that they've overshadow Osama Bin Laden himself, as the greatest threat to America.
And just like on the morning of 911, the American people don't seem to have a clue to the danger just over the horizon, that's headed their way.
Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.