I hope that it's escaped no one's notice that Monday will be the five year anniversary of the worst attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. I hope that we're all vigilant in keeping an eye out for those who might wish to do us harm. However, I also wish that our government wasn't so successful at cultivating a culture of fear. The very word terrorist is a carefully planned word used to elicit hysteria and unrational panic.
Am I saying that we should be ignoring the threats against this country? Of course not, but we live in such a culture of fear of the unknown that we are suspicious of our very neighbors. We peer stealthily through curtains at the Arabic people in the neighborhood, who just may be Muslim. We listen to our government refer to Islamic Fascists and the Network of terror, and we close the blinds just a little more. We pull into ourselves more with each coming day, and that's what they want. When you're scared, you don't think clearly, and they want you scared out of your mind. The fear paralyzes rational behavior, such as wondering why the hunt for Al Qaeda's leader has all but stopped, while we sit as the occupation force in a completely different country...one that had no hand in the tragedy of 9/11.
We sit and patiently watch while the government takes away more and more freedoms and things that make this country great. They get away with it because to question it would be Unamerican, and we don't want that, now, do we?
We're capturing and killing Al Qaeda, though...in the wrong country, but we're doing it nevertheless. We're doing what we can to break the insurgency in Iraq. Those in charge of the military strategy should be able to tell you that the civil war that has erupted in Iraq is not something light we just have to put down...this is major civil unrest that will embroil our troops and military funding for many years.
I'm rambling and spewing my own form of propaganda...yes...but I think it's important to know that almost 5 years ago, one of our biggest cities was brought to a stand still as two planes decimated two of its tallest structures...and another 2 planes did similar damage in our nation's capital and in a field in Penn. I'm not saying we shouldn't be scared or even vigilant. I'm saying that if we own that fear, instead of it owning us, we will be better equipped to make decisions and realize that our president is not working in the best interest of his millions of constituents. A couple of years ago, after the invasion of Iraq, Bush was quoted as saying that he doesn't even think about Bin Laden anymore...doesn't care about him. This is the same man that promised the American people that we wouldn't rest until Osama was caught and tried or killed in the days following 9/11.
As we begin to mark the anniversary, please don't forget those that died, because our president certainly has...and he's keen to add more to that total in Iraq.
Am I saying that we should be ignoring the threats against this country? Of course not, but we live in such a culture of fear of the unknown that we are suspicious of our very neighbors. We peer stealthily through curtains at the Arabic people in the neighborhood, who just may be Muslim. We listen to our government refer to Islamic Fascists and the Network of terror, and we close the blinds just a little more. We pull into ourselves more with each coming day, and that's what they want. When you're scared, you don't think clearly, and they want you scared out of your mind. The fear paralyzes rational behavior, such as wondering why the hunt for Al Qaeda's leader has all but stopped, while we sit as the occupation force in a completely different country...one that had no hand in the tragedy of 9/11.
We sit and patiently watch while the government takes away more and more freedoms and things that make this country great. They get away with it because to question it would be Unamerican, and we don't want that, now, do we?
We're capturing and killing Al Qaeda, though...in the wrong country, but we're doing it nevertheless. We're doing what we can to break the insurgency in Iraq. Those in charge of the military strategy should be able to tell you that the civil war that has erupted in Iraq is not something light we just have to put down...this is major civil unrest that will embroil our troops and military funding for many years.
I'm rambling and spewing my own form of propaganda...yes...but I think it's important to know that almost 5 years ago, one of our biggest cities was brought to a stand still as two planes decimated two of its tallest structures...and another 2 planes did similar damage in our nation's capital and in a field in Penn. I'm not saying we shouldn't be scared or even vigilant. I'm saying that if we own that fear, instead of it owning us, we will be better equipped to make decisions and realize that our president is not working in the best interest of his millions of constituents. A couple of years ago, after the invasion of Iraq, Bush was quoted as saying that he doesn't even think about Bin Laden anymore...doesn't care about him. This is the same man that promised the American people that we wouldn't rest until Osama was caught and tried or killed in the days following 9/11.
As we begin to mark the anniversary, please don't forget those that died, because our president certainly has...and he's keen to add more to that total in Iraq.
 | Currently listening: Spiritual Machines By Our Lady Peace Release date: 13 March, 2001 |
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