[PassedOut]

Roger Cohen wrote a thoughtful and poetic piece about the aftermath of 9/11: In the Seventh Year

Quote

And in the seventh year after the fall, the dust and debris of the towers cleared. And it became plain at last what had been wrought.

It's time for the real cleanup. Past time, really.

[pclayton]

Maybe on this day, hell, even if its ONLY this day, we can remember the terrible acts of cowardice, and honor the dead, instead of using it as an excuse to bash politicians.

Well written my ass.

[hrothgar]

I'm sure that folks are going to hate me for saying this, but when I think back to the tragedy of 9-11 I don't tend to focus on the deaths in the twin towers or the passengers on the aairliners that crashed.

Yes, this was a terrible occurence; however, it pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of innocents that the US killed in a completely inept attempt to extract vengence.

9-11 was horrific. Unfortunately, I've come to expect that horrific things happen. The aftermath was orders of magnitude worse and should have been easily preventable.

[Al_U_Card]

Sadly, opportunism is the province of the political and suffering of the innocent is often the result.

CIA asset Bin Laden was a convenient focal point for the move into that strategic domain. Like many times before (The Maine, Pearl Harbor, Gulf of Tonkin etc.) the greater the tragedy the easier it is to justify the opportunistic response.

So many here and there have suffered for what are basically pretense and zealous fervor. Will we ever learn?

[Walddk]

My commiserations to USA and the American people. 9/11 is a date none of us will forget, American or not. It was a Tuesday and I was teaching bridge (afternoon European time). Everyone went home when they learned about the tragedy.

Roland

[kenberg]

PassedOut, on Sep 11 2008, 09:36 AM, said:

Roger Cohen wrote a thoughtful and poetic piece about the aftermath of 9/11: In the Seventh Year

Quote

And in the seventh year after the fall, the dust and debris of the towers cleared. And it became plain at last what had been wrought.

It's time for the real cleanup. Past time, really.

My overall pessimism goes far beyond George Bush and far beyond terrorism. I think Phil's suggestion that this day we honor those who died on that day, and those who died on any day in service to our country, is exactly right. Of course we can regret the loss of any life, in battle or otherwise, but today we recall the events of seven years ago, we acknowledge that there are those who wish us harm, and we resolve that we will prevail. It's worth the effort.

[vuroth]

I was reading today that Canada had to absorb (process, house and feed) more than 44,000 people that day, due to diverted flights.

Pretty amazing.

[1eyedjack]

pclayton, on Sep 11 2008, 04:02 PM, said:

Maybe on this day, hell, even if its ONLY this day, we can remember the terrible acts of cowardice, ...

Despite the certainty of incurring the wrath of my peers on an emotive subject, I object to the application of the adjective "cowardice" commonly attributed to the actions of terrorists. I can think of other adjectives that might justifiable express disgust and contempt at a despicable act, but cowardice I understood was the opposite of bravery, and however misguided and/or dishonourable, it surely takes an act of bravery rather than of cowardice to fly an aeroplane to your certain death into the side of a building.

[Al_U_Card]

kenberg, on Sep 11 2008, 02:04 PM, said:

PassedOut, on Sep 11 2008, 09:36 AM, said:

Roger Cohen wrote a thoughtful and poetic piece about the aftermath of 9/11: In the Seventh Year

Quote

And in the seventh year after the fall, the dust and debris of the towers cleared. And it became plain at last what had been wrought.

It's time for the real cleanup. Past time, really.

My overall pessimism goes far beyond George Bush and far beyond terrorism. I think Phil's suggestion that this day we honor those who died on that day, and those who died on any day in service to our country, is exactly right. Of course we can regret the loss of any life, in battle or otherwise, but today we recall the events of seven years ago, we acknowledge that there are those who wish us harm, and we resolve that we will prevail. It's worth the effort.

Be they foreign or DOMESTIC as your citizenship test alludes, I believe...

[luke warm]

kenberg, on Sep 11 2008, 02:04 PM, said:

My overall pessimism goes far beyond George Bush and far beyond terrorism. I think Phil's suggestion that this day we honor those who died on that day, and those who died on any day in service to our country, is exactly right. Of course we can regret the loss of any life, in battle or otherwise, but today we recall the events of seven years ago, we acknowledge that there are those who wish us harm, and we resolve that we will prevail. It's worth the effort.

hear hear

[pclayton]

Walddk, on Sep 11 2008, 10:49 AM, said:

My commiserations to USA and the American people. 9/11 is a date none of us will forget, American or not. It was a Tuesday and I was teaching bridge (afternoon European time). Everyone went home when they learned about the tragedy.

Roland

Nine Eleven will be my generation's equivalent of my parents' "where were you on the day JFK died".

When the kids get ready for school, we never have the TV on, but for some strange reason we did on that day. Alex was 13, Ariel was 10 and Abby was 8. We just all sat in shock while we watched the 2nd tower fall and the Pentagon get attacked. They wanted to go to school that day, because they wanted to be with their friends and find out what everyone had to say.