In two days it will be the 11th anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings, part of the Pentagon, and the slaughter of thousands of Americans. It seems to be the time of year when people are told to reflect on what it means, reflect on what we lost, reflect on what we have gained, reflect reflect reflect.
I remember that day clearly, as most people probably do, because it was one of those days that you can't forget. I live on the opposite side of the country, but I knew a few people that lived there at the time, and that live there still. I remember calling their phone numbers and getting a recording that said something about a tornado hitting the area. They had no automatic recording for what happened that day, and I am not sure if they do now, either. Everyone I knew was fine, far away from the WTC site, but having never been to NYC, I had no idea where anything was.
It seems to me, in my memory, that everyone was in shock, calling all of their friends and family, telling each other what we had heard, most of what we heard being untrue, which was a relief at the time, considering some of the stories. Of course we didn't want to believe that people almost instantly tried to use this to their advantage, or making phone calls, pretending to be trapped in the rubble, just crazy things that still make no sense and show how depraved and disgusting some people truly are.
What did the people need us to do? Did they need water? Blankets? Would NYC be evacuated? Where would everyone go? There were so many questions, the answers were slow to come but when they did they were reassuring but kind of strange, that no one would be evacuated, don't send anything yet, make donations to the Red Cross, stay calm, and, most importantly, don't let the terrorists win. You must not let that happen. You must go shopping. Yes. Shopping.
I think it was a Jimmy Dean sausage commercial that featured the American flag blowing in the wind while you heard the sausage sizzling. Go shopping! Go to the movies! SPEND MONEY!
No, we weren't sure who had done what, and to be fair, we supposedly knew something would happen soon, but what intelligence agency would think about hijacked airplanes, and so we knew a few things, but knew nothing, but then set our sights on Afghanistan and Iraq. If Afghanistan was a stretch, than Iraq was a complete fantasy location to start bombing. They had nothing to do with anything, nothing, and yet our government, republicans AND democrats, wanted blood. And blood we have spilled.
What a waste of life, all the way around. It is sad and tragic every time a soldier comes home in a coffin, or body bag, but they don't belong in Iraq or Afghanistan. Our government, by starting this war against an enemy without a country or face, has killed every single soldier that has come home in a body bag or coffin. We have maimed every soldier that comes home missing...anything. We have killed hundreds of thousands of people that had nothing to do with September 11, 2001. And we don't even pretend to take care of the troops that have fought for 'freedom'.
I don't know what we are supposed to reflect on, I don't know how we can not support a war but at the same time support the troops that fight the war we don't support, I don't know how anyone can think that this is anything other than reactionary and that we have lost so many lives, so many futures, and for what? What was the point? Why couldn't our government wait until they knew what they were doing? What kind of government starts bombing because they think maybe they might know what they are doing?
I don't feel that the world is safer and I don't feel that it is less safe. I guess if we are supposed to reflect on how we feel during this time of year, I would say I feel that most of the dead have been forgotten, our government dug us into a hole that will take too long to crawl out of, and that government officials aren't even talking about this anymore and that we should just get out of Iraq and Afghanistan completely. We should have never been in either place to begin with and we need to leave.
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