Time for reflection

I know exactly what I was doing 5 years ago this morning.

I'd been on the phone for some time with a friend in Brooklyn, NY and had CNN on in the background. When the first plane hit the north tower, we were laughing about something and I told her that a plane had just ran into the World Trade Center. I remember having a hard time getting it across to her the seriousness of what was happening.

As we spoke, she went outside and saw the massive thick smoke plume which was passing right over her building. I listened to her witness the second plane hit. She described seeing the collapse of the two towers with her own eyes as I watched it happen on television hundreds of miles away. We spoke in shock and amazement before she got had to get off the phone to check on friends in Manhattan.

I'd eaten dinner at Windows On The World, on the top floor of the north tower only a few years earlier, and now I was watching it and the rest of the building burn and then suddenly vanish before my eyes.


As we all endure the wall-to-wall wallow in 9-11 on its fifth anniversary, (including the blatant attempt of a major network to air an account of the events leading up to 9-11 that contains blatant lies and Republican spin), it may be an appropriate time as well to reflect on what this administration has done since that fateful day, and perhaps more important, what they did or did not do before hand.

The question which seems to be absolutely forbidden to be asked, and which none in the media will dare ask, is simply whether the government could have prevented this enormous tragedy.

There is ample evidence that is available to prove that they knew of the threat and had been warned repeatedly, yet did nothing about it, and even cut funding for anti-terrorism programs. And the documented response, or lack of response, by the Air Force and others while the planes were still in flight is still characterized by conflicting reports and destroyed evidence.

Yet almost no attention has been paid to these things. No serious investigation has been done, and the evidence hasn't been presented to the public by any major media. It's truly the question which must not be asked, so the chance that we will ever have any answers is slim.

But there is a very real chance that this attack could have been prevented, and fairly easily. Yet no one ever dares to suggest it.

How have they responded? Where have Bush & Co. taken our country? Are we better off? Is the Middle East better off? Has the world become more secure? Or have their actions of the past 5 years made the U.S. and the entire world less secure, more dangerous, and thrown it into more turmoil than ever before?

Is the U.S. safer and more secure? Were the benefits of invading Iraq, if any, worth the staggering and ongoing costs in lives, treasure, and the squandered support and sympathy of the world?

As we are treated to a massive spectacle of patriotism and emotional memories today, accompanied by the witless blather of pundits and others repeating now trite slogans and conventional wisdom, we must ask ourselves as well, has what our government has done in our name in response to this attack been appropriate or effective?

Have they honored the loss of all those who were killed 5 years ago today with effective efforts against those responsible? Or rather, have they lead us into a hopeless and ill-conceived muddle which has not accomplished anything other than the deaths of thousands and stirring ever more hatred towards us and spawning ever more terrorists?

They responded, by launching a military campaign in Afghanistan, with the goal to take apart the Taliban, deny al Queda a haven and to capture and/or kill Osama bin Laden and as many as his associates as possible. They did this with the unanimous support of liberal and conservative alike, with the backing of the rest of the world.

But they did a half hearted job, pulled up short, and diverted resources to prepare to launch an invasion of a country with no involvement with the terror attack of 9-11 whatsoever.

Afghanistan was like a head fake, an exercise to buy time. They even allowed Afghan warlords to be in charge of the area bin Laden was in, and allowed one of two escape routes into Pakistan to remain open, thus allowing bin Laden free passage out of the country. Now the killing and attacks in Afghanistan are increasing, the U.S. installed government controls perhaps 1/3 of the country, the Taliban are regaining power, and the opium crop is at record levels, funneling billions to the Taliban and Islamic militants and warlords. Is this mission accomplished?

To this day, bin Laden seems to be an after-though to Bush, who has stated that he just doesn't worry much about him anymore. See this post

Ignoring all but shaky and disputed intelligence which supported their case for war, the Bush regime then rushed to invade Iraq. Why? Only God knows. But the extremely pro-Israel neo-cons surrounding Bush have been advocating just such an invasion for many years, and saw 9-11 as their perfect chance to stampede the country into war.

It would be easy to deceive the public, especially if they could be kept scared, and if 9-11, Iraq, and Sadaam were always mentioned in the same breath. Sacrifice wouldn't be asked of us, just that we remain in fear of a constant threat. That would be the key, and they'd be sure to remind us often, even though it serves no one's purpose but their own.

And they didn't have a hard time convincing Bush Jr., who has a rather comic book view of war and history, and who has a personal hatred for Hussein because, as Bush put it, "He tried to kill my daddy." Of course, oil man Cheney got positively damp at the prospect of controlling all that oil and the billions of profits which would flow to his former company and those of his friends.

So they mounted a propaganda campaign which will live in infamy. They took all of us for idiots, capitalizing on and exploiting the deaths of thousands on 9-11 and the fear of the populace for their own political and financial gain, and stampeded the country into an unprecedented war of aggression.

(Continued here.)