You're going to be reading and watching a lot of remembrances of 9/11 today. Some will be horrifying, some will be bittersweet. All be tinged with the sort of melancholy you expect from citizens grieving a national tragedy. Looking back is good for us. We will remember what was done to us and honor those who were taken from us that day.
But I will let you look to other authors for that sort of tribute. On this anniversary of 9/11 I want to address some very disturbing trends I see among Americans.
I see people calling the threat of terrorism "hype." I see others giving credibility to 9/11 conspiracy theories by linking to the sites/media that propagates it. Still others say that we should declare victory in the war on terror since we haven't been attacked again in five years. And, more omnipresent than any of these things, there is the constant drumbeat for withdrawal from Iraq because the war there supposedly "has nothing to do with the war on terror."
These people are short-sighted fools, and their rhetoric is dangerous because it distracts us from the vigilance that is necessary to keep us safe from future terrorist attacks. The vigilance we all promised we'd keep up in the days and weeks after 9/11. The vigilance some have apparently tired of and deemed no longer necessary.
So rather than do what most are doing and commemorate this 9/11 anniversary with another accounting of what that day meant to me and my fellow citizens and how it still resonates with us today, I'd like to emphasize why terrorism is still very much a threat today and why we still need to fight against it by spreading democracy to the middle east.
First, let me say that terrorism is not "hype." It exists. It is real. The threat it poses to Americans is not exaggerated. Since 9/11 there have been several terror plots thwarted. There was a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge in 2003. More recently there was a plot to blow up New York's PATH trains in the tunnels under the Hudson River and a plot to blow up nearly a dozen airplanes over in Great Britain. Even as I type this there are reports making headlines about a Muslim man in Michigan who tried to board an airplane with a knife hidden in a book. There are more plots that have been thwarted both here in American and abroad that I'm not listing here, and there are probably even more that we've never heard about because our anti-terror forces haven't made them public due to operational security. But my point is clear: These plots are real. They exist, and they represent a threat from Islamic terrorism that is far from "hype."
Which plays into my next point about claiming that the war on terror is over and that we should declare victory. The people who make this argument typically claim that, because we haven't had another 9/11-scale attack since 9/11, the war on terror has been won. Unfortunately for the supporters of this argument the brief summary of terror threats since 9/11 puts what they're saying out to pasture. Let's remember that there was approximately eight years between the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the attack that finally brought those buildings down on 9/11. The Islamic fascists may be deranged religious zealots, but they're not dumb. They are patient, they are organized and they are willing to wait years for the right time to strike. Five years between major terror attacks is not such a long time given the history of these attacks. If we were 20 or 30 years out I might be making a different argument, but five years? Please. Whether we like it or not we are hip-deep in the war on terror and aren't going to be clear of it any time soon.
Which brings me to why we need to stay in Iraq until the mission is completed. We will never, ever be free from the threat of Islamic terrorism until the conditions that breed that terrorism are toppled in the middle east. The roots of Islamic terrorism lay in the theocratic oppression and totalitarianism present in the middle east. When we fight against that oppression and totalitarianism, when we topple the leaders who enforce it, we strike at the roots of terrorism. If we fail to spread freedom in the middle east terrorism will continue to flourish and grow and we will continue to be in danger from it.
As for the 9/11 conspiracy theorists and those that would give them attention (all while claiming that they themselves don't actually believe the theories), those folks are operating at the same level as holocaust deniers. Which isn't to say that 9/11 is comparable to the mass murder of Jews in Europe during WWII, but rather to point out that both are instances of trying to gloss over the ugly, reprehensible actions of racist fascists. The belief system that brought us 9/11 is every bit as despicable as the belief system that brought us the holocaust. Trying to cover for those belief systems in either instance is just plain disgusting.
To conclude, let me say this: Even as the memory and hurt of 9/11 fades from our memories let us not forget that the threat from Islamic terrorism is still a very serious thing. A thing that will continue to present a danger to us whether we decide we want to fight against it or not.
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Comments: 24
In fact, much of what the failed GOP policies have done have made us much less safe and secure, as global terror threats have increased exponentially, Pakistan brokers a deal with the Taliban, Afghanistan is overrun with drug lords, war lords, and Taliban once again, our national treasury has been plundered, we are even MORE reliant upon foreign oil, and our military is bogged down in an unnecessary, illegal, costly quagmire in Iraq, which had NOTHING to do with 9/11.
As for giving credibility to "conspiracy theories," anyone who flatly refuses to acknowledge any other possibility besides the nonsense that we've been officially told, is buying into the lamest conspiracy theory of all.
There is no such ting as an "Islamo-fascist," btw, and anyone who uses that ridiculous term is a fool, buying into the propogandized hype that this failed administration has replaced real, successful policies with.
As for staying in Iraq "until the mission is completed," it already has been. The military was tasked with removing Saddam from power. They completed that task brilliantly. For the next 3-1/2 years, they've offered themselves as targets for a growing and uncontrollable insurgency and civil war.
There is no mission for them in Iraq any longer, other than to continue providing targets in the crossfire. The longer we stay there, the more Americans will be killed. We no longer have any hope of restoring peace and stability to that nation on our own.
We have shattered our ability to do that by allowing a president to shatter our moral authority, through attrocities like sanctioned torture and abuse of prisoners, widespread corruption, failure to secure and restore critical infrastructures, failure to provide employment, as well as the numerous violations of federal and constitutional laws that this white house has been caught in.
A "war on terror" cannot be won militarily. It is not something that brute military force can ever defeat, and that should be quite painfully obvious to anyone who's been paying the least amount of attention over the past 30 years or so. We will bankrupt ourselves LONG before we ever erradicate terrorism by brute military force.
As for the 9/11 "conspiracy theorists" being equated with "holocast deniers," this is another absolutely ridiculous comment, based in nothing, and requiring a massive seduction of utter falsehoods in order to accept. There are simply far too many glaring, obvious questions left unanswered or wrongly answered, regarding 9/11, to allow anyone with a reasonably capable mental capacity to accept the whitewashed official storyline. Anybody who's even casually examined some of the facts knows that there's far more to the story than we've been told, and frankly, anyone who's willing to cast other theories aside as "junk" are acting in concert with the terrorists, because they're hoping that the glaring holes and questions remain unanswered forever.
I do agree that it's ludicrous to use the fact that we've not been attacked on our own soil for five years as any shred of proof that this failed president has in any way made us safer. There's not an expert in the world that doesn't say that we WILL be attacked again. It's only a matter of when, not if. There is not, however, a "war on terror" at present. We are engaged in a "war on democracy and freedom," as this highly corrupt administration continues to flog us with irrational fearmongering, warmongering, and a continual stripping away of our constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedoms, and protections.
Obviously Clark slept through logic class. The definition of a theory is: a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation A hypothesis is much more than skepticism over the details of another version of events.
The core of 9/11 Conspiracy Theories are hypothesis's that the event was created by some group other than Al Qaeda. That it was the government itself that brought the tower down.
Confusing the postulation of an absurd theory with questions regarding the official version of events is a tremedous leap in logic.
What is lacking in this leap is any tangible proof.
On the other hand, the people who are most prominent in advancing these theories are to a reasonable person completely crazy.
For instance the only real "expert" that the 9/11 theorists have is Prof. Stephen E Jones, a cold-fusion advocate from Utah who believes that Jesus Christ appeared the the Mayan Indians.
See Behold My Hands: Evidence for Christ's Visit in Ancient America
Of course, Jesus visiting America is "truth" to people like Clark.
Obviously, you've neither reviewed the ridiculous assertions of the offical conspiracy theory, nor the significant and highly overlooked facts of the unofficial conspiracy theories.
But, since you're clearly not only a physics and architectual genius, but have also answered all 500 of the unanswered questions pertaining to 9/11, you surely know more than the Scholars for 9/11 truth. After all, they're only physics professors and the like, who've actually conducted scientific research into the topic. What the hell would they know?
Was it the papers, paper clips, computers, telephones, or wallpaper that melted the high strength structural steel into puddles, Greg? Surely, a self-annointed genius such as yourself can answer that one.
You're an ***hole.
mark-john K
NUTBAG
mark-john K
My sentiments, exactly. I love it when these mindless dickheads show the world how truly dumb they are.
"NUTBAG"
Substantiate.
mark-john K "
By all means, when you cannot refute the message, kill the messenger. That REALLY shows everybody how "right" YOU are. You wacky wingnuts are quite the impressive bunch.
It demeans you all.
But, with my position in mind, I still agree with alot of what was written in this article. Islamic terrorism afects each one of us every day, and it's only going to get worse. I can also easily see - and agree with - Rob's point about The 9/11 Deniers being related to the Holocaust deniers. Both would rather believe conspiracy theories than the actual reality... prolly becasue the reality is sooo much worse.
Thanks for the compliment (ya know...about my huge dickhead..)
mark-john K
Based upon what? Your opinion? What makes your opinion so much more valid than another's?
"Clark, let me guess...you hold some higher degree in education"
No, I just happen to detest ignorance and its nearest cousin, stupidity. I have zero tolerance for it, frankly, and when I see ad hominem attacks that have no place, no cause, no validity, and no value, I see nothing but abusive ignorance and stupidity.
"Can you tell of one right, freedom or protection you've been stripped of?"
That's an equally stupid comment. ANY shriveling of constitutionally protected rights and freedoms by ANY American citizen is an affront to ALL of us. You may like being spied upon by your government, but it is illegal, unconstitutional, and the majority of Americans do NOT support it. The same holds true of the limits to your free speech since 9/11, and the fact that your fellow citizens are being plucked off the streets and locked away indefinitely without charger or right to attorney.
"Of course we can never be "sure" of our safety."
Yet you, and your blind minions, are willing to gleefully hand over your constitutional rights, protections, and freedoms. That's mighty rational and "American" of you.
"Our President, contrary to what you spew, has been warning us all along..."we need to be right every time, they only need to be right once."
And yet, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention prior to 9/11, and has yet to do anything substantive, including implimenting any of the 9/11 commission recommendations, that would prevent another attack.
"In a funny way, I'm truly watching out for you."
I don't need you or your failed president to be my daddy. I'll take my freedoms back, load my weapons, and take on Osama myself, thank you.
"Don't you understand that war is necessary when evil is involved"
9/11 was a criminal act against humanity, and it had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. Don't you understand that? Your pretendident does.
"and don't you understand that they would LOVE to slowly hack YOUR head off with a nice dull knife?"
I'm not afraid of something that carries as much risk as me winning the lottery. Certainly not to the point that I'm willing to give up what makes America America.
"And when I finish writing here, you can go ahead and blame President Bush for that, too."
Blame Bush for you writing this? Ok, whatever.
"Thanks for the compliment (ya know...about my huge dickhead..)"
Some men are so inadequately equipped that they'll take anything to make themselves feel better, I guess.
Correction,
9/11 was a criminal act against humanity, and it had absolutely nothing to do with IRAQ. Iraq was NOT part of the bogus "War on terror" (i.e. war against democracy).
What an odd statement?
Let me see if I got this right, are you asserting if someone has an unanswered question regarding the events of 9/11 that means the government planted bombs in the WTC to bring the buildings down so they could go to war in Iraq?
And here I thought science was about proving assertions rather than proving stupid ideas not to be true.
No one has produced a single gram of "molten steel" from the WTC.
There have been reports of molten metal and molten aluminum and various lower temperature alloys have been produced but no one has produced molten steel.
The oddest thing about the "molten steel" statement is that no theory no matter how weird demands that "molten steel" be produced.
Steel looses its structural integrity at tempuratures much lower than melting..........and yes I do have somewhat of an expertise in molten steel. I spent several years in a steel foundry pouring, grinding and molding the stuff.
"Chief: "This is how it's been since day one. Oh, it's unbelievable... and this is six weeks later or almost six weeks later. And as we get closer to the center of this it gets hotter and hotter! It's probably 1500 degrees. We've had some small windows into, uh, what we thought was the floor at some point and it was like a, an oven, you know? It was just roaring inside and it just had a bright, bright reddish orange color. See that stuff he's pulling out?"
Fireman: "What was that Chief?"
Chief: "We're gonna, we're gonna hold off on that water. See the stuff he's pullin out? It's red hot. If we hit it with too much steam you won't be able to see what he's doing." "
Boy, that "papers, paper clips, computers, telephones, or wallpaper" really holds the heat, don't it?
SIX WEEKS LATER and they couldn't use water on the rubble!!!!
There are several models of optical devices that will measure temperatures, I have personally used them in a steel foundry. I would never trust an eyeball interpretation of the heat of an object without knowing what the alloy was. I would never trust an eyeball interpretation of what a metal consisted of without analysis.
Aluminum melts at approx. 1,200 F, there is a lot of aluminum in modern buildings. It is required by building code to be used for studding in interior walls.
Here is a chart of the melting point of common metals Melting Points of Common Metals
Temperature Chart
-Only Clarke Kent knows those.