musings and misadventures: HTT

9.11.2007

HTT - 9/11 Edition

I recently read a book where the character remembers September 11, 2001. She didn't live in New York, she didn't lose anyone in the various attacks, but she remembers her mom rushing to her high school to get her. She remembers people crying and screaming and watching the news coverage in horror.

And, well, I just don't get it.

Just like I've never really understood the phrase "post-9/11 America" when referencing things like entertainment and real estate instead of national security.

It's not because I'm cold or heartless, though I sometimes struggle with people who treat national news stories as their own personal tragedies.

The real reason I don't get it is because I wasn't here.

As I've mentioned, I was serving an LDS mission in El Salvador on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I do remember that day - I walked into the mission office as usual only to have a missionary tell me, "You've got to see this - someone bombed the World Trade Center." I then walked over to the computer and saw the now infamous footage of the first tower spewing flames where a plane hit it.

The rest of the day is a blur. Missionaries were ordered to stay home for fear of any anti-American uprisings. We were allowed to watch a bit of news coverage, which is where I saw the two towers collapse. I felt confused, I felt hurt, I felt worried for those who lost loved ones, but I didn't really feel scared. Like the incessant reports of Iraq suicide bombings, the news disturbed me, but it felt distant. I felt safe.

A few days later, life returned to normal. We weren't allowed to watch TV or read newspapers once again as is mission policy. Sometimes we'd be stopped by a stranger on the street who would offer condolences for our country's loss. And El Salvador even canceled its Independence Day celebrations as a show of support.

But there weren't American flags flying everywhere. There wasn't a somber atmosphere where raucousness used to reside.

Everything was the same.

By the time I came home in January, people were already recovering. People were flying again. People were less afraid.

But every now and then someone would reference "post-9/11 America," and I would realize that I'd always be a pre-9/11 American. Because despite my nationality, I didn't experience what my country experienced.

Maybe that's why I'd rather take risks than see our privacy invaded. Maybe that's why I think a war in Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism.

Maybe.

I'll never know.

But I'd really like to know what I missed.

Do you remember? Where were you that day? What did you feel? How did life change for you afterwards? And did 9/11 change your life forever or just your country's?
Please share.

30 comments:

Cichelli said...: 9/11 touched me in several ways.

First, my dad's company had a NYC office in the World Trade Towers. My dad regularly worked in the NY office (we lived in DC). He very easily could have been there. That terrified me. He wasn't, but a number of his colleagues -- and our family friends -- died that day.

Secondly, my mother in law works in the Pentagon. She was there when it was hit.

Maybe it's because I grew up in DC that my patriotism and political involvement is a little over the top. But I'm the girl who cries at the start of every parade when she sees an American flag. Or during a fireworks display. Or when our President bumbles through a speech and embarasses our great nation.

I'm a different person in general than I was in 2001 - a marriage and two kids will do that to you. I don't know how much of who I am was influenced by 9/11, or what was influenced by becoming a parent.

But I do know that I am proud to be an American, and that I hope our government and administration quickly returns to something we can be proud of and feel good dying for -- because since 9/11 so many people have died. I just hope it's a cause that is truly justified.; 9:24 AM
Kate said...: I remember that morning when my husband called on his way to work and told me turn on the T.V. - right after the second tower collapsed- I saw it happening before my eyes- and to hear the horror and bewilderment in the news reporters voices- I knew that this was huge... my husband then came home that morning from work and we went and hung out together with our then almost two year old- and I was pregnant. It seemed unreal. And then as the information kept unfolding- and watching day after day on tv the after effects- it was really chilling. I did and still do feel a real change. I think whenever I fly- I look around me and wonder..... when I enter a store, I look around me and wonder... I guess it just made me realize that anything can happen and we should be prepared- physically, spiritually, etc. But , really there is no way anybody could have been prepared for 9/11- We live in a great country- but another attack is a real possibility. It definitely changed me....

I do understand where you are coming from on the mission thing- when I was on my mission in Argentina- the Internet was invented, and the OJ simpson trial hoopla was going on- I know nothing about that (thank goodness) but people would think it was so funny that I didn't know that names of the characters and lawyers in that case. So- in some small way- I understand.; 9:48 AM
stephanie said...: september 11, 2001 was a sad, scary day. our country hadn't been attacked since it was a baby country. i always felt like america was immune to things like that. i had just graduated from the b y and had a job interview that day. i was kind of numb. i wanted to ask the lame guy interviewing me if he had any idea what had happened. he seemed so unaffected. anyway, it drives me crazy when people say things like "post-9/11" but i think things really did change that day.; 9:51 AM
Anonymous said...: i wasn't even in the US, i was in downtown Toronto in a meeting. People pretty much all just went home midday. There wasn't paranoia, or panic, i remember the subways were packed, it was rush hour everywhere, and everyone had this look that they just wanted to be home, they wanted to be with their families.

A lot of planes were grounded and passengers were unable to get to their US destinations. There were people that went to the airport to offer accommodation to strangers, knowing that they would be overwhelmed by the days news.

i remember that very day thinking "wow...this is the first time that the US has experienced such a massive loss of innocent lives".... i really (an naively)thought this might be the start of a cultural transformation. i thought the experience would actually draw Americans closer to understanding the suffering of other innocent people around the world. I thought, all these people have now lost people...i really, and it sounds so ridiculous to say this, but i REALLY thought it would be the start of a new era of compassion and social justice. seems insane thinking back ..; 10:08 AM
Anonymous said...: I was home that day. My first baby was due in just a few weeks and I had already quit working. My husband woke me up to tell me the news, and I just couldn't believe him. It seemed so unreal. I sat glued to the TV for hours watching the horrific coverage. I remember crying that morning and just thinking that although I was SO pregnant and ready for my baby girl to be born, I didn't want her to come out into the evil, scary world. I wanted her to stay in so that I could protect her and keep her safe.

I also remember going out to eat that night because I didn't want to cook and the normally very busy restaurant was completely empty. It was eerie being the only one at the entire restaurant, but hey -- a pregnant woman has still got to eat!; 10:47 AM
Leisha Mareth said...: I can't see how this isn't the entire country's tragedy? It did change the course of our country's events and the course of our armed forces lives forever with the war that followed. I'm fine with people saying post-9/11 because I don't think we've really seen the extent of the far reaching affects of that day yet. We probably won't be able to see it's affects with any clarity for generations.

I was the seminary teacher in our ward with a 2 month old newborn. I came home after teaching my class, kissed my husband goodbye as he went off to work and flipped on the news. I was feeding my son when it happened live on Good Morning America. I saw the second plane hit....live, on screen. My mouth flew open and I sat there in stunned silence, clutching my baby for what seemed like several minutes.

I just kept thinking of what the scene inside the buildings looked like...

After news came that the pentagon was hit I jumped up and called my Mom who worked in the state capital building in Austin. I just didn't know if it would be hit. It seems strange to say that now, but there was such chaos and no one really knew the full extent of where the attack might go, I did feel fear for my Mom.

My husband was far removed from it at work. He didn't "get it" until he came home that night and saw all the coverage...but watching it unfold live was mind numbing.

After that day some of the news coverage did become cheesy and ridiculous, milking it for all it was worth. Yet I still felt shaken and patriotic and wanted to kick some ass (just being honest...of course I would never have wanted things to end where they have in Iraq)

Anyway, we took a walk that night around our neighborhood. The sun was setting, it was a gorgeous evening, kids were playing...and I just kept thinking what a different world the sun was setting to than what it rose to that morning.

Is my day to day life affected by 9/11? No...but 2 years later 9/12 brought the birth of my daughter and life definitely was never the same after that!; 11:11 AM
Layton Clan said...: I remember this day because I was in the thick of it. I walked 5 miles across the bridge in downtown DC to my home in Virginia that day, because the metro's were stopped due to security. I could smell the smoke and see the black cloud billowing from the Pentagon. I heard the cries of the people as we truged, a great black sea of mourners. I was in New York City just a short six months later serving the Lord as one of his missionaries. I taught people who had lost loved ones. I taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This day will always be one that I remember because I gained the most intense love for my country, and for those who protect it. I feel that I was given the opportunity by the Lord to teach His gospel to hearts that were hurting and full of pain. Everyone I taught 'knew someone' or had been there. They were either grateful to God, or Angry with Him. I will always remember this day as one where our country came together, and where I was able to hold total strangers and assure them that there is more to this life than mortality.; 11:38 AM
ginny said...: "Surreal"--that is the only word that describes that day for me. I was working the graveyard shift as a tape operator at the E! Channel. Because any taperoom is full of television monitors, I usually had several different channels on at once to keep me awake. It was still very early in the morning LA time, but I was watching all the morning talk shows on the East Coast feed. One by one, each of them cut out with news of the first crash. For the next 15 minutes, everyone assumed it was an accident, and while the talk show hosts were concerned, they kept going with their inane chatter while occasionally checking in on the crash. Then the second plane hit, and you could hear the collective gasp as the entire country simultaneously realized that it was no accident.

My shift ended and I drove home during LA's morning rush hour. During that drive, the Pentagon was hit and the towers collapsed. The radio newscasters were reporting things like "The District of Colombia is now under martial law," and other crazy stuff that only happens in movies. I kept looking at the faces of everyone I passed on the freeway (something you would normally NEVER do in LA) and everyone looked back with the same horrified expression.

E! was one of the only cable channels that did not switch to 24-hour news footage. It's not really their fault--E! is one of the only cable channels that is not owned by a media congomerate that also includes a news station. Still, when I returned to work that night and had to focus on things like True Hollywood Stories, it all felt so meaningless compared to only 24 hours prior. So that's why I believe the phrase "post-9/11" has merit--most people changed a little bit on that day.; 12:43 PM
Ashby said...: I actually wrote about this on my blog....

And while I wasn't living anywhere near, and didn't know anyone close that died in the tragedy, I will never forget. That day, everything that went on, where I was, what I was doing is burned into my memory and will be forever. It was a time where our nation actually banded together. All lines....political, racial, religious were gone. We were fighting together against those who wanted to take our liberty, our FREEDOM.

To me, it is sad that people have forgotten. They forgot how they felt, who they lost, the prayers they sent up. We were all scared....no matter which state or country we were living in. It was a tragedy for the entire country, not just NYC and DC.; 12:45 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't really know you - I'm a blog stalker. I love your blog, especially HTT.

I was also serving a mission for the LDS church on 9/11. I was in Belize. My companion and I really had no idea how big of a deal it was at first. We were walking down the street on our way to a meeting and stopped in a little store for an orange juice. The store owner told us that someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center. We were a little shocked and wished we knew more of what was going on, but we just went about our day. Later the mission president called and told us more of what had happened and asked us to please stay away from the American Embassy, just in case (because – of course that would be the next logical place terrorists would attack – an American embassy in Belize). Throughout the week, Belizeans told us what was happening and expressed their condolences. My situation is a little unique, however – because my 18 months were through a week after 9/11 and I went home. I was worried I wouldn’t make it home as scheduled – because of all the plane delays and cancellations. But I did. My plane was almost completely empty, and the airport in Houston where I had a layover was almost eerie it was so deserted. When I arrived home, I was amazed by all the flags – everywhere. Flags at half mast, flags in front yards. The news coverage was amazing and I couldn’t get enough of it. I couldn’t believe what had happened!

When people say “post 9/11 America” what I think of is how our everyday life has changed. Air travel will never be the same. Gone are the days where we can carry-on anything we need – without having to worry about how many ounces of liquid we have. The conference center in SLC even has metal detectors. “Post 9/11 America” is a real thing. America has changed, national security has changed, and our perception of safety in America has changed. I don’t think I personally have changed because of 9/11, but my awareness, my outlook – my appreciation for America has changed.; 12:46 PM
Layton Mom said...: I was home asleep. I was supposed to be packing for our move across the state when my hubby called me and told me to turn on the news. I sat glued to the TV all day long. (Needless to say not much packing went on that day.)

There were moments of shock and a lot of tears shed. Although I was clear across the country I still felt connected to those people. I wept with them and couldn't help but feel pain for those who lost their lives and their families.; 1:29 PM
Melanie M. McKinnon said...: it's interesting how 9/11 is different for everyone. i wasn't affected by it in any way, i just remember hearing about it and watching it on tv like a movie. it still doesn't seem real to me.

my perception of death is much different now, after losing gus. a lot of people die every day, and it hurts just as much, even though it is not nearly as recognized as 9/11.

i do not disrespect those who died that day; if anything i sympathize more with them.

i just feel more pain thinking about my son than i do thinking about 9/11.

bless those families and any who have lost a loved one. it hurts no matter what the circumstance.; 1:59 PM
Likely said...: I was a sixth grade school teacher and wondered why all the teachers were glued to their classroom TVs as I walked through the halls of Grandview Elementary that morning. After realizing what had happened I turned on my classroom TV and I got permission to let my class watch the news coverage.

I thought it was too much a part of history and they were definitely too interested to get get anything else done. So my sixth graders and I watched for about 45 minutes or so and paused for additional updates throughout the day. I made them take notes in their journals and write about their feelings. We kept a bulletin board of the current findings and news reports.

We didn't dwell on it but I did try to spark their interest in national/international news. That year was the SLC Olympics as well and we carried our news coverage bulletin board into that event as well. (A more positive subeject)

I choose not to dwell on that experience. Sure, we can remember, but why does America have to be so obsessed with catastrophe that we are a post-9/11 America? Silly to me. Why can't we be the same America? A stronger America?; 2:21 PM
kristenita said...: I was living in provo. I was asleep & my roommate called from work to tell me we were under attack by terrorists. it was so surreal - it felt like a conversation two Americans would never be having. except we were having it.

it was really wierd. people just walked around in a daze for weeks. we almost felt guilty for smiling or laughing.

now that I live in NY state, I have noticed there is a different feeling than we have in the west towards 9-11. almost everyone has a friend or a relative or an old neighbor or SOMEONE who was directly affected by that day. there is a little more reverence. there are a lot more american flags on houses.

it was horrible. it was scary - but distant, like you said. but in a crazy way, it wasn't really a surprise to me - it didn't shatter my world of security. it was almost like I was "expecting" (not the right word but I can't come up with anything better) something so horrible to happen. (my little brother was going to columbine HS during THAT whole 4/20/98 event - so maybe my security bubble had already been popped then, I don't know.) or maybe my world has changed some because of that day. now I often wonder "what if terrorists get us TODAY?" that was never something that went through my mind 9/10 or earlier! I also pray for our country and freedom and things like that WAY more than I ever did before. I guess our safety was something I took for granted before, now I'm thankful each day we ARE in fact safe. and free.; 3:09 PM
Carina said...: Honestly, even though I was here, I kind of felt like you did.

I grew up with the IRA, ETA, worrying about the hijacking of planes (we did a lot of traveling and living overseas.) So, when 9/11 happened, it wasn’t a shock to me like other Americans. We never were safe, and we never will be. Most of you just weren’t paying attention. Of course, for most of us, we are just as safe as we ever were. I was incredibly sad and heartsick for all the families.

I understood immediately that it was Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: the pattern of bombings, from the USS Cole, to the embassies, and the many threats, fit right in. I was angry for the derision that Clinton took when he tried to go after Bin Laden in ’98—the media and many of you thought he was trying to “Wag to Dog” to remove focus from himself. I can’t help but think ‘What If’ he’d succeeded?

Then again, I knew from the studies I’d engaged in, that 9/11 would be the justification for all kinds of manipulative actions of we weren’t careful. Emotional response to saturnine demagoguery can overrule logic and reason, and that sometimes scares me.; 3:37 PM
sara said...: Hubs was in Texas on a business trip (he rarely leaves town for business) so I was still asleep on the couch, my 15 month old asleep in his crib, and my #2 child in my womb. Hubs called & told me to turn on the TV & it all seemed like watching a movie. Took a while to sink in. Hard to grasp the magnitude when you've only seen those buildings once in person & can't fathom the force of them falling. Hubs couldn't come home to me until a few days later due to flying restrictions, but I was okay -- still felt safe and pretty removed from the situation. I remember being glad that my one child was too young to understand (although we've explained it since then) since we have a flag flying in front of our house every 9/11 now. I still look twice when I see a plane flying low...

As far as "post 9/11" I usually think in terms of security at the airport, and also people's view of Islam.

As to politics -- I'm not going to get into that except to remind all you Bush-haters that our president has kept us safe and free from attack on our soil since 9/11. Don't you think that's saying something? Look at how many European countries have been attacked since then, and we have been spared thanks largely to the policies of this administration (Patriot Act, etc). If you don't think the bad guys are trying every day to think of another way to get us, you're dreaming.; 3:41 PM
P Daddy said...: Not being a morning person and with the three hour time difference, I might not have been up yet, but I had a morning meeting in Prescott that day, a two-hour drive. So I heard the whole thing unfold on a news-talk radio station during the drive.

On one level, I see no reason that the events or the victims should be lionized more than those from Waco, or Oklahoma City, or other mass disasters, anymore than Katrina victims should be remembered more than Hurricane Andrew victims or the Minnesota bridge disaster victims. Or any reason that 9/11 or its immediate victims should draw more attention than the dead or disabled veterans of this war and all other wars, some of whom voluntered but many of whom have been Reserve and National Guard members who never really anticipated such service.

But while it wasn't the first act of terrorism on American soil, or even the first one on the World Trade Center, like Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination or the Nixon resignation or even the Challenger disaster, it does mark a loss of innocence, a change in the sense of personal and national security, and one of those collectively-connected, "where were you then" moments.

What I most remember, was not the sadness or awe or chaos or connection to more mundane things (like the Yankees-Diamondbacks World Series), but the brief period of world-wide joinder in human sympathy and understanding and opposition to extremism and terrorism. Unfortunately that was quickly lost in the haze and sentiments surrounding the war in Iraq.; 3:44 PM
liz said...: This is one of those moments for which everyone has a story. I haven't heard much about 9/11 today, and am glad to read people's thoughts about it, as it is a day we should remember, I think.

We felt personally vulnerable that day for two reasons:
One, I had been on an airplane the night before, which had been delayed, putting me home pretty late -- like midnight, maybe. The next day when "it" happened, I felt so grateful to be home and not in an airport somewhere, feeling afraid.
Two, we were in the middle of a move at the time, and "home" had been a hotel room for about a month. I was there with two small children, and it just didn't have the secure feeling of a real home or apartment that was our own. We closed on our house that morning, in the midst of all of the news, and the poor attorney was so rattled, I was a little worried she would mess something up. We felt pretty relieved to be in our own place later that week.

I don't think I ever felt personally fearful, but it was such a dramatic moment for our country -- we were definitely shaken out of complacency. It makes me so grateful to live in a place where we don't fear for our personal safety every single day. Yes, another attack is possible, even probable, but violence and fear are not constant, and we go about our everyday lives without too much trouble.; 3:48 PM
janaya said...: i remember the images. images seared on my brain. images that, when i see them on tv even today, will bring tears to my eyes. i remember the flowers lining the streets. the people holding up pictures of their loved ones in the hope that someone might say they saw them. i remember the firemen. i remember the sounds. i remember the silence. i remember an anchorman finding himself speechless and emotional. i remember feeling like it would be impossible to go back to normal life. and then i did. and i sort of hate that.; 5:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Total deaths attributed to 9/11 terrorist attacks (not including the 19 hijackers): 2,974.

Total DOD-confirmed U.S. military deaths in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: 4,146.

Most conservative estimate of total Iraqi civilian deaths due to recent military conflict (not disease, poverty, unrelated violence, or natural causes): 78,000.

That is what post-9/11 means.; 6:11 PM
Emma said...: I was at work and heard the news while listening to the radio. It hit close to home because my uncle works at the Pentagon and was involved in the rescue and recovery effort. We didn't know if he was alive for about 14 hours.

I don't think I changed because of 9-11, other than the memories and the feelings I had. I was already emotional from being pregnant, and this just added to it. Once I got a grip I realized it didn't change how I was going to live my life.

I know it affected the economy and military etc. So in turn I am affected, but not dramatically.; 6:18 PM
sara said...: anon: Do you really need to be reminded of the hundreds of thousands (at the very least) of civilian deaths Saddam Hussein was responsible for during his years as Iraq's president?; 6:25 PM
Leigh said...: 9/11 made me a reporter.

I was in my very first journalism class at BYU. Introduction to newswriting. We were in one of those huge classrooms, and for some reason the TV didn't work. Somehow, someone had a radio and we listened by putting it up to a microphone. I couldn't imagine what I was hearing.

Soon, my teacher told us to rush anywhere and find a television. She said we would learn more about being a reporter by watching 9/11 unfold than sitting in a classroom.

That very first day opened my eyes to so many things.

It not only showed me my true feelings for this country, but showed me what a responsibility I have as a reporter. I know, it sounds funny, but I truly feel that I play an essential role in our great democracy.

On another note, like Aubrey, I'm the cheesy patriot. I cry at parades and funerals. My heart goes all a flutter when the national anthem is played.; 7:40 PM
P Daddy said...: Anonymous--Not sure if you were saying the Iraq war has cost far more lives than the terrorist acts used to justify it, a valid point, or that "post 9/11" means some horrendous loss of life. If the latter, then, while every life is sacred and every loss tragic, the casualty numbers you cite are actually very small in the context of history. Compared to other wars, famines, genocides, and natural disasters of even the past 50 years, 9/11 and its aftermath is pretty insignificant, unless we're saying US or Iraqi lives are worth more than African or Asian or Jewish or Afghan or Bosnian lives. 9/11 certainly didn't usher in a dramatic new era of war and death. There are plenty of bases for criticism of the Iraq war, but as wars go (with all their horrors), this one isn't very big. By contrast, the rise in the scope, frequency, and geographic range of terrorism, particularly radical Islamic terrorism, the resulting erosion of civil liberties in the name of security, the increased international political isolation of the United States, the change in the nature of warfare, the impacts on airlines and air travel, the terribly mixed blessing of increased surviability from previously fatal battle wounds and other historical shifts seem, to me, to be more what "post 9/11 means" than bare casualty numbers.; 8:23 PM
LCM said...: I too was one of those pregnant women on 9/11. My mom called to say someone was bombing New York City. Hubby and I put on the television and sat horrified. I put my hand on my stomach and for the first time ever, I thought, I have no business bringing a child into this world. I have to say things aren't nearly as awful as I had imagined they could become. My sister was on a battleship that day and walked her deck with a machine gun...her day turned out a lot different than mine.; 8:46 PM
tara said...: Perhaps I am pretty ignorant to what of our privacy and civil liberties are being violated, but quite frankly I don't care if my phone line is tapped or my email read b/c I'm not doing anything that I have anything to worry about and if someone is tapping the line they're going to hear about baby puke and hot weather, and other insignificant stuff. Like I said, I probably don't really understand what of my civil liberties are being violated, but if "tapping the line" protects us, then all the more power to 'em!

I don't like having to dump my liquids and I don't like the "war in Iraq" but my question is this... What did you expect GWBush to do? Is it not true that Iraq was harboring, training and funding terrorists. With the exception of the 1st "gulf war" this is the only war our generation has ever been exposed to by mass media. My initial thoughts were "what kind of world am I going to have to raise my children in?" We don't like it because we're seeing it, day after day, and so we're complaining about it. While I'd bet that 1 in 2 people would look at you puzzled if you said Darfur.

(by you and we I mean them and us... all together... not directed at YOU Mrs. Dub (o:; 1:31 AM
Karen Vutrano said...: I have to say that I have some similar feelings as you, even though I was in Manhattan when it happened. I worked in Midtown, but I could look down 6th ave and see the billowing smoke and smell a truly disturbing and chemical smell in the air. My company evacuated and I walked 50 blocks home on one of the most otherwise gorgeous days. We were without phone or television service for a day. Work was closed for 3 days. The day after I, against all advice, walked all the way downtown to see for myself. What I distinctly remember was the smell, the stores with blown out windows with their goods caked with white ash, and the photos plastered everywhere with missing people.

However, I was not one of the people running through the soot that morning, I was not trapped on the island of manhattan unable to get home, and I thankfully, had not one acquaintance that was personally involved, displaced or missing.

The only personal affect I experienced was that my company was evacuated twice in the following weeks do to bomb threats.

The point is, is that particularly once I was privilaged with the opportunity to volunteer at a disaster relief center in midtown, I was struck at how lucky I was and that 9/11 was truly not MY traumatic experience. I spent an entire day walking from station to station in this relief center with a woman who would not accept that her daughter was likely dead and would not be recovered--even though it was 2 weeks post 9/11 and the hospital database for unidentified victims was closing. I do hold my breathe slightly, as I write this, but the woman told me a colleague of her daughter claimed to have last seen her jumping out a window. From an upper floor. She also told me that I looked like her daughter.

Anyway. After spending time with her for 8 hours, I decided that despite being a New Yorker, and having been present during 9/11, and been inconvenienced, I felt a distinct and large chasm between myself and victims like her. I remember the events for their significance and emotional imprint, but I don't feel personally traumatized by it.

Sorry for the long post. Perhaps sharing helps me honor others on the anniversary.; 10:36 AM
Carina said...: "Is it not true that Iraq was harboring, training and funding terrorists."

Tara, sorry, not true.

Exactly WHICH terrorists was Saddam
harboring?

You could make an argument that Iraq is NOW harboring and training terrorists, but that is all post-invasion.

If the argument is that Saddam was a bad person, a reprehensible human being, you'd be right. If the argument is that we needed to liberate Iraq from Saddam's grip, then why didn't we do something when he bombed the Kurds in 1988? Or through all the horrific acts he committed throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s?

If he was so bad, why didn't we remove him during the First Gulf War? Or follow through with our promise to support the uprisings after the First Gulf War? Instead we hung the Iraqis out to dry time and time again.

Even if we assume that your argument for invasion, namely to stop terrorists, is accurate, then why would the invasion have been advocated for and planned PRIOR to the 9/11 attacks?

We can argue the merits of this war until the cows come home, but we shouldn't ever tie Iraq to 9/11. There is no tie. There never was.; 2:41 PM
tara said...: call me an elizabeth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8JRTb4j8EM&mode=related&search=; 11:48 PM
tara said...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8JRTb4j8EM&
mode=related&search=

I think you'll have to take out the return after the & before the mode...; 11:50 PM