"Where were you when you heard about the attack?", seems to be the question most often heard these past few weeks. It's a question always asked after some kind of momentous news - usually bad. It was asked of people after the attack on Pearl harbor. It was asked after Kennedy was assassinated and now it is being asked about the attacks of September 11, 2001. For the record, I was in bed. It was fairly early in the morning here on the West Coast. Our daughter came in and told us. I jumped out of bed, turned on the TV , hit the internet and spent my day following the developments. My job, at the time, was working in the Boeing factory on the 767 line. I worked the afternoon shift so that explains why I was still in the sack.
After the attack, we suffered a brief recession, mostly in the airline industry. We bounced back, however and set out to eradicate the radical Muslim elements that sought, and still seek, to destroy us. The trick is getting the actual bad guys. In wars past, we blamed the entire population of the enemy along with their leadership. When we went to war against Germany and Japan, it was against all of Germany and Japan. They were the enemy and we were theirs. We went all in. It was how things were done.
Had something similar to the events of September 11, 2001 happened in, say 1931, it's entirely possible we would have declared war on Arabia and and we would be the owners of all that oil. In the conflicts since WWII however, warfare started to change. With every conflict since then, our goal has been to minimize collateral damage and unnecessary loss of life as much as possible. The general idea of warfare before WWII was to punish everyone and make it so that the people of whatever country was bothering yours, would just leave you alone rather than risk huge losses of property and life - or at least that's the theory.
The implementation of institutional liberalism after WWII (The UN, OAS, etc.) was supposed keep something like WWII from happening again. (As an aside, it was probably the introduction of nuclear weapons that has done more to thwart all out war than any institution). The League of Nations, initially introduced after WWI, was an abysmal failure. We thought by the end of WWII we'd learned a thing or two. We were supposed to talk about our differences and negotiate our way out of conflicts. Good idea in theory, but it's doubtful it's ever had a meaningful impact on conflicts since its inception.
I tend to lean toward the Realist school of internation relations. Briefly, that means that that the international system is something akin to anarchy. There are no real rules and nation states tend to disregard the institutions and rules as they see fit. The problem with the Realism school is that in the last 50 years or so, non-state players have become more and more the star. Leftist revolutionaries, ethnic groups and religionists have all played apart in shaping the post WWII World.
One of the largest non-governmental players is in the Middle East. The fundamentalists within the Sunni branch (by far, the largest group) follow a belief system that we call Wahhabism (they use the term Muwahhidun or Unity). Simply put, the Wahhabis (Saudi Arabia has the most of them) are Islamic fundamentalists. Their movement dates from the 1700s and has established itself as the predominant sect in Saudi Arabia. You need to know this because this is where Osama Bin Laden was born and received his religious education.
In the late 1980s, Osama formed what is known as "Al Qaida" or "The Base". Osama not only wanted western influence out of the Middle East completely, he envisioned a caliphate presiding over a world comprised solely or mostly of Muslims. Just to be clear, Osama and his followers also do not tolerate Muslims who do not follow their system of belief and they have been known to attack Shi-ites and other non-Sunni sects. The biggest plum, the largest target, was and remains, the United States. Virtually, under our noses, he pulled off an attack that, heretofore, no one had been able to accomplish - or at least not with such stunning results.
So here we are, ten years later. For a moment, in the aftermath, we were a country united. We were brutally attacked by a band of cowards, willing and able to kill themselves and thousands of innocents in the name of their god. For a moment, we had a purpose. For a moment, we stood united in our desire for revenge and also to put an end to the people that conceived, planned and carried out this dastardly plot. We also wanted to know how they managed to get aboard these various airplanes with the necessary weapons to complete their attack.
At 8:46 Eastern Time, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Next came American Airlines Flight 175, crashing into the South Tower at 9:03 AM. The next target was the Pentagon. About a half hour later, at 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77 it the westen side of the Pentagon.
United Airlines flight 93 was the only airplane that missed its planned target. It is believed that Flight 93's target was most likely the Capital building in Washington, D.C., but the possibility exists that its target could have been the White House. In either case, Flight 93 did not make its intended target. When the hijackers took over their Boeing 757, some passengers were able to make on-board calls and learned the fate of the other three aircraft. They decided to stop the hijackers from using their airplane as missile. The last words of passenger Todd Beamer heard by a Verizon operator was to his fellow passengers: "Are you ready? Let's roll!" Shortly thereafter, united Flight 93 crashed into an old strip mine in Stoneycreek Township, PA.
In all, 2,996 men, women and children were killed in the attacks. In some cases, entire families and even entire companies in the World Trade Center were lost. Many brave New York City firefighters and policemen were lost trying to evacuate the towers when they came crashing down upon them. Go here to see my tribute to one of the firemen that died that day. His name was assigned to me by a group that wanted bloggers do an individual tribute.
That next Sunday, our houses of worship were filled with people seeking comfort and answers. We were at once, horrified, angered, brave and fearful. We wanted revenge and an end to the madness. We wanted the deaths of those innocent people to mean something other then the victory of madmen. We wanted to send a message so loud and clear, that future terrorists would choose not to attack us.
President George W. Bush stepped up to the leadership plate and rallied us to take the battle to the enemy. I firmly believe that history will be much kinder to President Bush than the petty politcal and partisan punditry seems to think. Bush took action. He didn't send a cruise missle into an aspirin factory. He took the fight to them.
So here we are, ten years later. The battle cry of "Let's Roll!" seems to have faded away to the more peaceful, "Coexist". The current Mayor of New York City is a coward who is afraid to have any clergy of any faith have any part of that city's official ceremony. No pastors, priests, rabbis or imams. There will be politicians of all stripes and levels. There will be family members of survivors. There will be a plethora of speeches. There will, however be no prayers.
Perhaps there will be no prayers at Bloombergs party, but Americans everywhere will be lifting up our prayers. There will be prayers for peace, healing and understanding. There will be prayers of forgiveness and hope. There will also be prayers for this great country and the men and women of law enforcement, the intelligence community and our armed forces. Those are the people on the frontlines. Those are the people that keep us safe. Those are the unsung heroes.
My prayer is that we stay united. That we constantly remain vigilant and that we forgive, but also we remain valliant in our efforts to detect and thwart further attacks.
The real truth of the attacks of September 11, 2001 is this. There is evil in the world. There are people who seek power and will use any means necessary to obtain it. Sometimes they wear the guise of religion and sometimes, they wear the guise of peace.
President Andrew Jackson said in his farewell address on March 4th, 1837:
"But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government."
The lesson of 9/11 is simply this. There are those who wish to take away our freedom and they will do so at all costs. We must learn it and understand it if we are to survive. Never forget - never again!
Let's Roll!
VW
