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September 08, 2002-8:44 p.m. I�ve really been making an effort to avoid all of the hoopla concerning the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC. The thing is, it�s almost impossible to avoid. I have AOL because it is what is available to me in my rural area and they are hyping the anniversary at every opportunity. We are encouraged to put little candle icons on our IMs and read what others have to say about their feelings in light of the anniversary. At work, we�ve already received the email instructing us on the proper phone etiquette to follow when it comes time to observe our two-minute time of silence. We�ve been handed paper flags on which to express our thoughts so that they may be put together to make a companion piece to the display they made last year; the faded blue paper with some of the flags missing still hangs in the foyer as a testament to our patriotism. We�ve also been instructed to wear red, white and blue clothing in order to show our respect for the brave people who lost their lives last year. As was the case last year, I�m sure there will be ample opportunity to see people dressed as parodies of Uncle Sam or the like. When I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon to do my grocery shopping, I was inundated with patriotica galore. �United We Stand� and �God Bless America� spelled out in red, white, and blue rope lights, copies of commemorative issues of Life magazine featuring brave firemen on the covers, �Let�s Roll� the book by Todd Beamer�s widow, and flags of all shapes and sizes. I�ve been subjected to all of this without ever opening a newspaper or turning on a television. Lord knows what horrors of the poorest possible taste lie waiting there. Everywhere we are being asked the question: �Has America changed in the last year?� My answer: NO We treat the events of Sept 11, 2001 as if they were unprovoked and without warning. Anyone who suggests otherwise is summarily dismissed as unpatriotic. At a time in which we clearly should be reassessing our Middle East policies and what effect they may have on the people who commit acts such as this, we are insisting that military action needs to be taken against Iraq, a country we failed to tie to the bombings but are now saying is amassing weapons of mass destruction. We don�t have a single Arab ally who supports this move and with good reason. We spent untold millions of dollars fighting the enemy in Afghanistan and yet we still have no clear victory. We don�t have bin Laden. We don�t have clear indication that our actions there averted any further terrorist acts. So we�re told now that the front is all over the world, that the fight against terrorism isn�t confined to Afghanistan. In other words: �We don�t know.� What could it possibly hurt to start trying to find common ground with people of other countries and cultures and trying to find peaceful resolutions to conflicts instead of rushing in with our guns blazing? Why can�t we try to be a bit more farsighted about the foreign policies we choose? Iraq would never have had the power it did if we weren�t so anxious to help an enemy of Iran. I know this is probably the minority opinion and a lot people would disagree. That�s as much their right as expressing an unpopular opinion is mine. **Disclaimer: All characters in this diary are fictional. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, real or imagined, is purely coincidental and unintentional.** |
