9/11

Channel 4's programme 9/11: State of Emergency was an appropriate reminder of just how devastating the attacks were on 9/11 to the USA's feeling of security at the top level and the personal tragedies and survival for those ordinary people caught up in what was the USA's worst terrorist attack. Watch it on Channel 4 OD. Particularly revealing are Condoleezza Rice's comments. As National Security Adviser she was crucial to the response and her interview is fascinating for the processes put into action (Cold War links here abound) and the chaos that was unleashed at the heart of the world's most powerful government. If you watch it, please add your own comments.

PS: Here is the angry analysis of the consequences of 9/11 by the Independent's Robert Fisk. This extract from his conclusion shows his point of view pretty clearly:
"Anniversaries are newspaper and television events. And they can have an eerie habit of coalescing together to create an unhappy memorial framework. Thus do we commemorate the Battle of Britain – a chivalric episode in our history – and the Blitz, a progenitor of mass murder, to be sure, but a symbol of innocent courage – as we remember the start of a war that has torn our morality apart, turned our politicians into war criminals, our soldiers into killers and our ruthless enemies into heroes of the anti-Western cause."

Obama and the mosque

As promised, some arguments for and against the mosque in New York. The mosque or Islamic cultural centre is to be built two blocks away from ground zero, the space where the twin towers used to be until they were destroyed by Islamic extremists on 9/11. The Economist puts both points of view but very quickly refutes those against it. Here is the New York Times's reporting of three Congressmen's explanations of why they are against it. For Obama it is increasingly an important issue as in mid-August in a CNN poll 70% of people claimed that they were against the building of the mosque and there are mid-term elections in November...

What do you think? Is this bringing out latent islamophobia in America or should there be an islamic symbol so close to the place where those of that faith killed over 3,000 people?

Ground Zero Mosque Gets "O.k." but Still Faces Opposition.

So the much ballyhooed "Ground Zero Mosque" will go ahead and be built, which isn't just the right thing to do--It's the American thing to do. The opposition to this mosque said that it was too close to the "Ground Zero" site and was thus a slap in the face to the memorial of those Americans who died during the September 11th terrorist attacks. First of all let's clear something up right away; there were Muslims who died on 9/11 along side Christians and Jews. Including innocent Muslims upon the planes used as missiles. So when they say this mosque is spitting upon the memory of those who died I guess they only mean Judeo-Christians. This is intolerance disgustingly hidden behind the American flag to soften the face of their hatred toward all Muslims. Increasingly Americans are packaging radical beliefs behind symbols of good old Americana, which unfortunately often legitimizes such extremist ideologies to the vulnerable.

The people who are opposing the building of this mosque and cultural center are also standing in opposition to religious freedom in America, which we supposedly hold dear. This reverence for the freedom of religion is ironically often espoused by the very same people who are protesting this mosque!! They say this mosque is a monument to radical Islamic terrorism, which is beyond insulting and embarrassing to listen to as an American who works hard to be inclusive. It is the height of arrogance, stupidity and bigotry to lump all Muslims of the world in with Islamic terrorists who probably consist of less than one percent of the worlds BILLIONS of Muslims. Sadly, however, this is the kind of ugliness you often hear from Americans whose only connection with Islam is the 9/11 terrorists and the wars against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Anyone who has interacted with an average Muslim knows the truth; that most Muslims are peaceful, kind and tolerant of others. I spent two years living in West Africa where Islam is a popular belief system, and some of the nicest people I met there were in fact Muslim. The Muslims I met would invite me into their homes off the street and feed me like a welcome guest. And the irony perhaps to some was that I was there in West Africa as an official Christian missionary!! But that wasn't important to them or myself. I was a guest in their country and guests are treated with great respect in many Muslim households.

Out of respect for that invitation I refrained from talking religion but when the subject was raised by them, I would discuss it. However, it was always respectfully discussed by both sides. And interestingly, when we did converse about faith it was often about what we had in common rather than apart. Rather than preached to or insulted for my religion at the time, I was often shown the passages within the Qu'ran that speak reverently about Jesus Christ. And I, in turn, asked respectful questions to learn about a religion that was new to me at the time. Islam isn't an "evil" religion and most people would find that if they had an open, respectful and honest dialogue with the average Muslim that they'd find more in common than not.

In the end, Americans need to come to terms with what it means to be an American. If you think it's o.k. to ban a mosque because of 9/11 then by that same logic we should ban churches close to the sites of abortion clinic bombings too.

9/11 Leaks

The Wikileaks website has published over half a million electronic messages that were sent on 11 September 2001. It is unclear how it acquired these and the legality and morality of publishing private messages is rather dubious. However, it does provide further insight into the chaos, confusion and high emotion of that day. Here is more information on the story, plus an article about how Wikileaks has gained a reputation for exposing information others would prefer the public not to see.

PS: Please note Wikileaks is not available on the school system.

Changing attitudes to 9/11

Today is the 8th anniversary of "9/11", when terrorists hijacked aircraft to attack the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC. President Obama has attended a memorial service at the Pentagon, and Vice-President Biden laid a wreath at Ground Zero. Today is now known in the US as the "National Day of Service and Remembrance". However, 8 years on, is people's attitude to this event now changing? Can it now be described as an event "from history"? Certainly the new intake of Year 7s at Nonsuch(aged three at the time) have no memory of it. Perhaps the inauguration of President Obama makes it easier to consign 9/11 to a previous "chapter" of history. What do you think, and what are your memories of the day?

On another note, there was a documentary on BBC2 last night about the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. It approached the subject, through its narrative and interviews with key figures, clearly a historical event. Is this too soon, and when is it acceptable to treat events in the past as history?

The Media and Suffering.

Have you heard about this terrible shooting in a Wendy's fast food restaurant here in the USA a few days ago? My heart always breaks and mourns when I hear about these things as there is so much suffering involved.

Obviously their is the suffering of the victims who did nothing but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That being said, it is clear that the shooter must have been severely suffering mentally to feel pushed to do something so terrible as this.

Once again the media just focuses on the horror of the event rather than putting the spotlight on mental illness and what we can do to increase help and support for the mentally ill so that we can reduce this kind of thing that has become all to common. We never seem to use these nightmares to increase research into new and improved medicines and double our efforts to raise more awareness and educate the public on the truths and the misconceptions behind mental health problems. We need to find the positive in these events. We need to look at them as learning opportunities rather than just a salacious news story.

Today the media got their hands upon the 911 tapes of this terrible event and as usual are playing them over and over. I am always baffled why they do this because what good does this do but rub salt in the wounds of the families suffering? It isn't good to dwell on the panic and fear of those moments. It does nothing but amplify the disturbing nature of this shooting and broadens the suffering to the general public. Why would anyone want to listen to those traumatic moments?

I remember the people after 9/11 who wanted the tapes of the disaster released to the public and was greatly saddened when they did so. I think those are private materials that should be only accessible to the families of the victims. There is something really bothersome about listening to someone's last terrifying moments of their life. It seems intrusive and just waters the seeds of fear, delusion and anger. It only serves to fuel the suffering in this world. The other reason that we shouldn't air these tapes is because there are people who are on the edge of violence themselves and playing these tapes stirs up their urges to do something similar.

The other event that I remember is the Columbine massacre that occurred in my state of Colorado, USA when they released the video tapes of the killers roaming the hallways with their guns and you could see the crazy look in their eyes. It was a disturbing event in an of itself and airing those tapes was irresponsible in the least.

There is enough suffering in this world, we don't need to fuel that strong habit energy further.

I just firmly believe that somethings shouldn't be splayed out in front of the general public.

~Peace to all beings~

Dick Cheney the Unpatriotic Liberal

I don't usually talk politics on this blog but this video was too much to pass up.



To hear him talk in this clip he's one us. Those "nasty, stupid, unpatriotic liberal" war critics that he has cursed. The Cheney camp claims that things were different because of 9/11. Yep, he is still beating that long dead (now decomposing) horse that Saddam had something to do with those horrible attacks. And I'm sure he'll be dragging the picked clean, parched bones with him to his grave.

---End of Transmission---