September 11th, 2006

So we wake up on Sept 11th like we do every day, except that there is some tension in the air that we try to ignore to help us go through the day as if it were any other day. But the truth is that it's not. It can't be. At least not yet.

There is a lot of pain still in the hearts of all of us affected by this atrocity, and there are many reasons why we cannot settle and just move on. The main reason is, of course, because that hole in our souls that was caused by the sudden death of our friends and family members will never really disappear. But there are other reasons, many other reasons...

If you are watching the news coverage of the events, in particular the reading of the names of the three thousand victims of 9/11, one thing becomes clear watching some of the readers stumbling or mispronouncing many of the names, the victims were from all over the world, all kinds of backgrounds, all religions.

One brutal, prejudiced, unjustified, criminal, cowardly act does not justify another, and most of what we have seen since 9/11 has been a reaction from individuals and from the government that mirror what has been done here.

The terrorists attacked us due to an uneducated and enlightened view of the world that is composed of manipulative leaders who brain wash them into believing that what they think is right, religious fanaticism that increases their hatred for anyone who doesn't have the same believes they do and a desire for revenge that makes them lose their humanity and make them incapable of realizing that the people they are attacking are just like them.

Have we been acting any differently? We have attacked a country that never attacked us because our leaders lied and convinced a large part of the population that it was for the best. Since that Invasion of Iraq by the USA, it is estimated that over 46000 civilians have been killed. That is over 15 times the number of people killed at 9/11. But somehow, that is viewed as being acceptable.There have been 2,897 coalition deaths, 2,668 Americans, two Australians, 117 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, four Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of September 11, 2006. That is as many people as those killed in the World Trade Center. And for what? Oil?

There is also another interesting twist to the government's excuse that this is all being done for our safety and so that we can keep our "democratic and free" way of life.Instead of trying to fix the causes for terrorism in the world, we have been reduced to a cat and mouse game.
In a new age of government monitoring of private conversions and actions and all the civil rights violations of the Patriot Act, of lies about the handling of political prisoners, abuses and the recent admission of secret illegal prisons found by an European investigator which held detainees in Europe that were hurriedly shipped out to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out.

The current American freedom of widespread ID checks, locked and bulletproof cockpit doors in airliners, armed pilots, tracking foreigners' visas and monitoring Muslim and Arab communities, to even prohibiting shampoo from being brought on board, tapped phones and monitored internet access. All done for our freedom and safety.

Let's also consider, as we watch the images of ground zero, that that same Department of Homeland Security has just slashed New York City anti-terror funds by 40 percent. FORTY PERCENT!!!Their explanation is that New York has no national monuments or icons. Of course, The Empire State Building, The United Nations, The Statue of Liberty and others found on several terror target hit lists are probably not important. There are also landmarks, such as the New York Public Library, Times Square, City Hall and at least three of the nation's most renowned museums: The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan and The Museum of Natural History.

Let's also forget that NYC is the financial capital of the world, home to Chase, JP Morgan, Citi Group, The New York Stock Exchange, The Commodities Exchange, American Express, George Soros funds, Michael Gabelli's funds, Lazard Frere and Salomon Brothers, to name just a few of the more prominent banking interests located here.

How about ignoring a commuter population of more than 16 million around the city twice struck by fundamentalist terrorists and twice more targeted in plots halted in pre-operational stages. Or more than eight million residents and the largest rail ridership in the nation - more than five million. It is those commuters and rail riders who are expected to suffer most from the cuts since mass transit is listed on most DHS alerts as the top terror target.

Yes, there is a lot of sadness today. Let us all hope for better days...