My 9/11 post for 2007

Six years ago, America faced a choice.

A small number of men showed us how dangerous the world is, when people with the ability to cause great damage have no regard for human life.

I believe America was right to help the Afghani people take control of their land again, and oust the Taliban. And I believe we should have gone further: I think we should have used all of the people and resources we had at our disposal to show the world that you can't do something like this and get away with it. We should have moved every mountain to get Osama bin Ladin.

But we didn't... because President Bush wanted a war in Iraq.

The best estimates we have are that over 600,000 people have died as a result of this war. (Don't tell me the number's been discredited. It hasn't been, and everyone who swears that it has been has been suspiciously silent about any way to find the real numbers out. That in itself shows that the people who complain about it are hiding from the truth.)

The world is truly dangerous when people who have the ability to cause great damage show no regard for human life.

People are debating whether we should pull out the troops from Iraq. "Let's stop discussing why they are there; let's talk about what to do now!" they say.

No... let's talk about why they are there.

They are there because some fools thought that warfare was something they could control, that people would act in accordance with neo-con dreams. They are there because America, under the leadership of President Bush, chose escalating warfare instead of the pursuit of simple justice. They are there because meddlesome idiots took on forces too big for them, and, to this day, are unwilling to do so much as admit that they screwed up.

And they did all of this, proclaiming it was because of an act of terrorism, a time when they should have been most aware of the horrific damage caused by those who don't care enough about the lives of others.

America faced a choice: justice, or hatred, and it chose hatred, the kind of hatred that ignores any responsibility we might have for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Now, here comes the right-wing; I can hear them now; I "hate America", I'm part of the "blame America first" crowd.

Nope. I'm saying that the choice that was made can be unmade. We can re-dedicate ourselves. We can be the America that declared that all people are important, that no one, not even a king, has a right to ignore the rights of others. To refuse to criticize is to refuse to give the opportunity to listen, and decide to make a new choice.

So please, listen, and make a choice, if you haven't already. Choose justice.

My 9/11 post for 2007

Six years ago, America faced a choice.

A small number of men showed us how dangerous the world is, when people with the ability to cause great damage have no regard for human life.

I believe America was right to help the Afghani people take control of their land again, and oust the Taliban. And I believe we should have gone further: I think we should have used all of the people and resources we had at our disposal to show the world that you can't do something like this and get away with it. We should have moved every mountain to get Osama bin Ladin.

But we didn't... because President Bush wanted a war in Iraq.

The best estimates we have are that over 600,000 people have died as a result of this war. (Don't tell me the number's been discredited. It hasn't been, and everyone who swears that it has been has been suspiciously silent about any way to find the real numbers out. That in itself shows that the people who complain about it are hiding from the truth.)

The world is truly dangerous when people who have the ability to cause great damage show no regard for human life.

People are debating whether we should pull out the troops from Iraq. "Let's stop discussing why they are there; let's talk about what to do now!" they say.

No... let's talk about why they are there.

They are there because some fools thought that warfare was something they could control, that people would act in accordance with neo-con dreams. They are there because America, under the leadership of President Bush, chose escalating warfare instead of the pursuit of simple justice. They are there because meddlesome idiots took on forces too big for them, and, to this day, are unwilling to do so much as admit that they screwed up.

And they did all of this, proclaiming it was because of an act of terrorism, a time when they should have been most aware of the horrific damage caused by those who don't care enough about the lives of others.

America faced a choice: justice, or hatred, and it chose hatred, the kind of hatred that ignores any responsibility we might have for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Now, here comes the right-wing; I can hear them now; I "hate America", I'm part of the "blame America first" crowd.

Nope. I'm saying that the choice that was made can be unmade. We can re-dedicate ourselves. We can be the America that declared that all people are important, that no one, not even a king, has a right to ignore the rights of others. To refuse to criticize is to refuse to give the opportunity to listen, and decide to make a new choice.

So please, listen, and make a choice, if you haven't already. Choose justice.