[thelist] A Nation In Turmoil
dean at digital-crash.com
dean at digital-crash.com
Sun Sep 16 18:55:49 CDT 2001
Much has been said following the vicious attack on America about
Americas response. The knee-jerk call for blood has gone out. The
media continues to inundate us with new reports about every
conceivable aspect of this tragedy and the topic of conversation in every
break room and office in our country is terrorism and what America will
do about it.
The typical call to bomb those responsible back into the Stone Age
has been heard and heads nod in agreement with every echo of that
sentiment. Flags are at half-mast around the country. A drive down any
busy thoroughfare in our nation shows that we do indeed want God to
Bless America.
As we struggle to come to terms with the violence that greeted us on
September 11th, the anger toward our enemy is quite evident. It is the
anger we harbor towards our government, our politicians and ourselves
that is being neglected.
The image of America as inviolable, a refuge for the worlds poor, tired
and homeless, the defender of justice and the beacon of truth was a
mantle that every American wore lightly until those two towers came
crashing down. Now that mantle is as heavy as the tons of rubble that
cover the victims of our nations sons and daughters, wives and
husbands.
The people responsible for this terrorist action are easy targets for our
anger. It is our own wounds of responsibility that are hard to touch. The
pain is still too new and fresh.
In our anger we know that our societal rules and policies allowed this to
happen. Our own inflated sense of security, our national pride allowed
us to continue believing that we were untouchable. Now, in our grief,
through our tears, clarity is painful.
President Bush has already said that ending terrorism will be a long and
painful process. This will quite possibly prove to be the biggest
understatement in history even given the understanding that the rhetoric is
necessary. While most Americans are just now coming to terms with
how this could happen we havent even begun to question why this
happened.
The ideology behind the terrorism that plagues us is as foreign in concept
to Americans as the people that carried out the act. This Saturday, while
many American parents were taking their children to soccer and football
practice, children in terrorist nations were busy learning how to assemble
AK-47s, blindfolded. While our children are watching music videos,
terrorist children are learning how to shape C4 and what detonators
work best with high-explosive charges.
Americans are correct in their assertion of not understanding. We dont
want to understand. The passion that drives terrorism makes us uneasy.
Our moral tenets make us targets. Our inability to understand makes us
victims. In the wake of this tragedy, the realization that we must learn
and understand this madness makes us angry.
The sacrifices that have to be made are many. The grumbling that will
follow will be loud. Our freedoms have been attacked and dealt a severe
blow. The understanding is painful. Realizing that we share the blame is
excruciating.
The carefree attitude Americans had regarding their freedoms and their
entire way of life came crashing to the ground on September 11th, 2001.
To the pile of rubble we can add the weight of our own grief, the sorrow
of the families of the victims and the sacrifices of the next generation of
Americans.
To the list of labels we apply to terrorists we can add dangerous,
determined and unfortunately, successful. Make no mistake, the acts that
were carried out against America and her citizens were indeed a success
for the terrorists. We have been forced to rethink our policies, limit our
freedoms and deal with an entity that until now we have largely ignored.
The test for Americas people is not whether we will shed a tear, we
have shed many, but whether we will blink. Our resolution must be
tempered with the knowledge that this battle will be long and painful,
fought by our children against an enemy they cannot understand.
Until we can claim victory, we can take some assurance in the fact that
while we grieve, America, and her people, remains solemn and
unblinking.
DigitalGhost
Sapere aude
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