What We’ve Lost
The fifth anniversary of 9/11 hardly seems like a milestone. 9/11 has never stopped being commemorated and exploited. It is invoked whenever the current administration and the Republicans feel their poll numbers slipping. The memory of 9/11 is thrown around with such carelessness by our leaders that any official commemoration 9/11 seems entirely devoid of meaning.
Still, I find myself thinking about all that we’ve lost since that day. Five years ago, 19 fanatics used box cutters to hijack our airplanes and wreak havoc in our skies. Since that time, our government has used those events to hijack our country and wreak even greater havoc in the world.
I mourn the loss of life that occurred five years ago. I mourn the even greater loss of life that has occurred as a result of our government’s misguided War on Terror. I mourn the loss of our civil liberties, justified by that seemingly endless conflict. I mourn the net loss of goodwill that emerged after we were attacked, but has since been squandered. I mourn the loss of wisdom and restraint in our foreign policy, a loss we could hardly afford to sustain given the stilted nature of our policies prior to 9/11. I mourn the loss of our credibility on the world stage.
What I mourn most is the lost opportunity to take a critical look at our policies. After 9/11 we had an unprecedented opportunity to take a long, hard look at ourselves and some of the things we do in the world that spread bitterness and discontent, the seeds from which terrorism ultimately springs. Instead, we passed up that opportunity, choosing delusion over reality. Five years later, we still subscribe to the same banal myth that they hate us because we are free.
Five years later, there is even greater bitterness and discontent as a result of our response to 9/11. Tens of thousands of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, prisoner abuse, and unwavering support for Israel as our ally in the War on Terror have not made us safer. Because we have failed to understand why it is that they hate us, we have yet to learn that heavy-handed military solutions serve only to exacerbate the problem.
Five years later, I mourn the loss of my safety. I suppose what 9/11 demonstrated is that even when we felt we were safe, we weren’t. 9/11 taught all of us that there is a difference between feeling safe and being safe. Five years later, I now realize that we are not safe, that we never were, even when we felt that we were. I miss feeling safe and carefree, though perhaps my increased sense of vulnerability has caused me to gain greater empathy with those whose lives, homes, and families are threatened and destroyed because of the United States, our policies, and the War on Terror.
I hope that with each new anniversary of 9/11, our collective empathy continues to grow, until the time comes when it is no longer necessary.
Still, I find myself thinking about all that we’ve lost since that day. Five years ago, 19 fanatics used box cutters to hijack our airplanes and wreak havoc in our skies. Since that time, our government has used those events to hijack our country and wreak even greater havoc in the world.
I mourn the loss of life that occurred five years ago. I mourn the even greater loss of life that has occurred as a result of our government’s misguided War on Terror. I mourn the loss of our civil liberties, justified by that seemingly endless conflict. I mourn the net loss of goodwill that emerged after we were attacked, but has since been squandered. I mourn the loss of wisdom and restraint in our foreign policy, a loss we could hardly afford to sustain given the stilted nature of our policies prior to 9/11. I mourn the loss of our credibility on the world stage.
What I mourn most is the lost opportunity to take a critical look at our policies. After 9/11 we had an unprecedented opportunity to take a long, hard look at ourselves and some of the things we do in the world that spread bitterness and discontent, the seeds from which terrorism ultimately springs. Instead, we passed up that opportunity, choosing delusion over reality. Five years later, we still subscribe to the same banal myth that they hate us because we are free.
Five years later, there is even greater bitterness and discontent as a result of our response to 9/11. Tens of thousands of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, prisoner abuse, and unwavering support for Israel as our ally in the War on Terror have not made us safer. Because we have failed to understand why it is that they hate us, we have yet to learn that heavy-handed military solutions serve only to exacerbate the problem.
Five years later, I mourn the loss of my safety. I suppose what 9/11 demonstrated is that even when we felt we were safe, we weren’t. 9/11 taught all of us that there is a difference between feeling safe and being safe. Five years later, I now realize that we are not safe, that we never were, even when we felt that we were. I miss feeling safe and carefree, though perhaps my increased sense of vulnerability has caused me to gain greater empathy with those whose lives, homes, and families are threatened and destroyed because of the United States, our policies, and the War on Terror.
I hope that with each new anniversary of 9/11, our collective empathy continues to grow, until the time comes when it is no longer necessary.
posted by Sandouri Dean Bey at 11:05 AM
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