9/11: Thoughts of a P*ssed-Off American
Man, it’s been twelve years since the most horrific tragedy I hope I ever have to experience interrupted study hall my junior year of high school. Even that day I didn’t understand like I do today. Our world seems to be filled with more uncertainty today than it did while American icons were crumbling on live television.
As a sixteen year old kid, I remember feeling anger and wanting simple revenge and thinking that these people were pure evil. Today, twelve years later, I am twenty-eight and still feel angry even though the revenge has been taken and Osama bin Laden has been put down like the dog he was. The anger is different now though, when I look around I see 9/11 has either been completely forgotten by adults or misrepresented to children. We don’t teach kids the facts of what really happened. Instead we hide behind little multicultural sayings or make excuses for a very real sect of people who conspired to kill innocent Americans, an estimated two hundred of whom were forced to jump out of windows 800 –1,000 feet to their deaths.
On this September 11th we stand waiting to hear whether or not we are going to aid Syrian rebels, many of whom are affiliated with the group who attacked us. Am I the only one who thinks we should just let them kill each other off? Look, it is harsh I know, but when I think of the over 600 children who’s firefighting fathers never came home or the men who were stricken with cancer from working tirelessly at Ground Zero, I can’t think of a worse way to dishonor them then to now aid these animals in their hour of need. Let me tell you a secret that most people don’t want to admit:: “In a fight for your life, there is no moral high ground.”
If the Middle East is going to go up in flames then let it. We shouldn’t supply gas nor water to the flames. It is the 21st century, we can adequately protect ourselves if our priorities were in the right place. The Israelis are more hated by the Arabs than we could ever be, yet in 2008 Global Traveler Magazine named El Al, Israel’s national airline, the safest airline to travel on. This is due to the fact that Israel understands the fight and they couldn’t care less about our western moral high ground. They stand ready to answer the door and shoot the wolf, not try to bargain and hope for the best. I admire the Israeli government for the way it zealously defends it’s people. America could be the same way; well, we could if we really wanted to be.
America could set a precedent that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated against the United States and her allies. We need to send a clear message that what you guys do in your own countries is your own business but when and if you step out and pick a fight with the big dog he is going to bite the hell out of you. We have missiles that can be accurate to within 5 meters of a target. Don’t tell me that we need to ensure stability in that region. We need to just stand back with our arms folded and let nature work. Then, if this small percentage of the Muslim world wants it with Uncle Sam, then and only then do we give them the full might of the military.
What happened to the American swagger? Doesn’t anyone remember? I know I do. If you don’t believe me, ask the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki how we take care of our own, ask the people of Dresden, Germany how the United States used to respond to acts of aggression against our allies, and finally ask Mullah Omar what its like to be in hiding. Omar is so deep in hiding we don’t even know if he is still alive.
However, since the Obama apology tour we forgot our balls. Ronald Reagan once said, “No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.” Folks, that is still true, we just need to find it again. We need to send a message to the White House: no more aiding terrorists during the Middle East uprisings, no more forgiveness and diplomacy if we are attacked again, and stop valuing people’s feelings and political correctness over our national security responsibilities.
This September 11th, I am still angry but less at terrorist scum bags like al Qaeda and more at our own leaders who have allowed us to look weak in times of trouble and who have made us the laughing stock of the world. Let’s dedicate this 9/11 to a new beginning and to getting back on track as the worlds preeminent superpower; and if France doesn’t like it, screw ‘em.
Image: U.S. Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/acd1996005205/PP/; author: Macauley, Charles Raymond, 1871-1934, artist; public domain copyright not renewed
