9/11 Plus One

There has been a lot of talk about how we should mark this one year milestone of the September 11th, 2001 attack. How much is too much? How little is not enough? Should it be a party or should it be a wake? Is patriotism appropriate, or will it make us appear jingoistic? Should we show the event on TV for all to relive, or rely on the images burned into our minds eye? Should we be angry or sad?

I don’t know what the answer is, but I know what I don’t want. I don’t want what happened a year ago swept under the rug and buried in the name of sensitivity, diversity, or any other politically correct platitude. I want the fire that burned in our bellies that fateful morning stoked anew. But I don’t think that is going to happen. Not much anyway.

On 9/11, a year ago, war was declared on America with a cowardly sneak attack against civilians on our home soil. But already the word “attack” has been stricken from the dictionary of our mainstream media. They refer to the event as a “tragedy” no different from a natural disaster. Pass out the blankets and bottled water, call in the Red Cross, cluck our tongues and move on. Don’t mention anything that might get people mad - especially if it will make them mad at the people who did this.

But this shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s been happening since the day 19 Arabs, followers of Mohammed, highjacked four jet aircraft and used them as cruise missiles pointed at the heart of America (shhh... don’t tell anyone, it might upset the muslims).

Our press, which prides itself on being defenders of the First Amendment of our Constitution (held in contempt by Atta and his ilk), have decided that we are not grown up enough to know what really happened on 9/11 (we might get mad and do something rash), and have therefore decided that censorship is really a good thing. The censorship began a year ago. It began when our noble press decided not to show us what the rest of the world got to see - what really caused Palestinians and other Muslims to dance in the streets.

Sure. We saw the horrific footage of fully loaded jets slamming into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We stared in disbelief when the towers came crashing down. We shed tears of sorrow and anger - and pride when we learned what transpired on flight 93. But we didn’t see, in real time, what the rest of the world saw - what shocked some and amused others. No. Our media decided that Americans were not grown-up enough to see it all, so they censored it for our own good. But was it for our own good?

Some of you know what I’m talking about. For those that don’t, I’m talking about the real terror. Not the abstractions that we create in our minds when we imagine the choice of burning or jumping to our death, but the raw footage of people making that choice and then having eighty stories of free fall to think about it. I’m talking about the gore. Not that which we can imagine in our worst nightmare, but an 8x10 glossy of what making the choice to jump looks like when it’s splattered on streets below the trade towers. The footage of firefighters having to dodge falling bodies on the way in to the towers.

Our pundits and talking heads showed us a few stills of the jumpers, days after the event, and told us that we were not mature enough to see more. That’s not what they said, of course. They said it was out of sensitivity for the victims (since when has the press ever shown sensitivity towards the victims of violent crime? “If it bleeds, it leads,” it practically a cliché). They said it would be gratuitous and serve no purpose (not their purpose, anyway). They said it would unnecessarily inflame Americans to take revenge on innocent Muslims (after all, Islam is a religion of peace and God Fearing Americans are always looking for someone to lynch). No. We weren’t weren’t grown-up enough to see what really brought smiles to the faces of the Arab street, and Osama bin Laden in particular.

It might make us mad. And that would be bad. Because then we would demand that something be done. We might even insist that we use our military to go and hurt someone. And they can’t have that.

But try as they did, they could not squash the righteous fury that swept this country and resulted in the first successful invasion of Afghanistan since Ghengis Khan came down from the north and started putting heads on spikes. They could not stop the patriotism that saw American flags bloom from coast to coast, even if they themselves refused to pin them on their $1,000 lapels in the name of objectivity. They found themselves cowed, like many of the left, and were exposed as being largely irrelevant. They didn’t like that, but they couldn’t do much about it either - except to hide in their editing rooms and try to alter our reality to look like theirs.

On the six month anniversary was aired a documentary of the firefighters that went into the towers. It showed a scene of the command center they had set up on the ground-floor mezzanine between the towers. Every few seconds there was a loud “Bang” on the ceiling that made them flinch in horror. It was the sound of bodies hitting the Mezzanine roof. One of the firefighters, a big guy, obviously disturbed, asked, “what must it be like up there for them to jump?” Indeed.

The next day the pundits and hand-wringers were in a tizzy that such a disturbing scene should have been shown. But nothing was shown. It was just the sound of bodies falling. Of choices made in terror.

It’s been a year now. Much of our anger has been vented. Many of the flags have come down. Ground zero has been cleaned up. Life is back to normal in the sense that we are back to worrying mostly about domestic issues and not where Osama may be hiding. And the cowards have come out from under their beds to make their views known, now that the danger of receiving more than a dirty look for airing them has passed.

Politicians that sang bi-partisan renditions of “God Bless America” on the Capitol steps have gone back to their corners - some to get on with the job at hand, some to obstruct for obstruction’s sake. Near unanimous support for the war has turned into a split decision on whether a new vote on proceeding to Iraq should be taken before or after the elections - lest the voters hold some poor politician responsible in the voting booth. Mere eye rolls during his State of The Union Address have turned into a constant second-guessing and criticism of the President’s conduct of the war. Democrats who supported action against Iraq in ‘95 when Clinton was president, now urge caution and restraint in the face of overwhelming evidence (and simple common-sense), that says he was, is, and will be a threat to U.S. security.

And our beloved media now refers to a despicable ACT OF WAR as a “tragedy.” It was nothing more more than a natural disaster. Natural because it is natural to hate America and its values. Natural because we did not do enough to understand our attackers. Natural because whatever bad happens in the world is probably our fault, at least in part. So let’s just put it behind us and try not to make anyone else mad again. Oh, and here’s a billion more in foreign aid - please like us.

I don’t know for sure what would be appropriate for this one year anniversary of 9/11. I’m still waiting for the coverage that would have been appropriate a year ago. Not because I love gore. Not for the shock value. Not to hurt anyone’s feelings. I want it so that when Tom Daschle and his ilk say we should slow down the war on terror, I can point to the appropriate picture, or news footage, and ask him why he didn’t make Clinton follow thru in ‘95. I want it so I can rub it in the noses of the pacifists who say that we “need to find another way out,” and ask them what other way out those poor jumpers were given by the terrorists. So I can ask them all what it is about that attack that they don’t understand.

Early one Monday morning at Ft. Campbell, my Bn. Cmdr formed our battalion (400+ men and women) and marched us to the scene of an auto accident near our barracks. Two members of our unit had been out late celebrating and drinking. One of the two soldiers was getting out of the Army the next day and would be going home with his GI Bill to start the rest of his life. That night was not only his last night in the Army, it was his last - period. His friend spent three weeks in the base hospital. One-by-one our commander made us walk up to the wreck and take a good look at it inside and out. There was blood everywhere (and that was all). Fortunately, we had not had breakfast yet, but it didn’t matter for some. We got the message.

Most of us don’t need to see the pictures I speak of to “get the message.” The fire still burns hot in our bellies. Carrying the war to the furthest corners of the planet is not in question. The steel in our spines has not lost it’s temper. But that cannot be said for a growing number of our fellow “Americans.”

There is a growing cacophony of voices from the left and elsewhere that say we have no right to defend ourselves. That we have no right to strike pre-emptively when danger stalks us in the night. That we must wait for signed confessions from people like Saddam, Osama, or Assad. That if we were nicer and more understanding of others, people would stop wanting to kill us and we could go back to living in our imaginary comfort zones.

These people need to see what made the Palestinians dance in the streets and hand out candy to their children. They need to see what brought cheers to the “Arab street.” They need to be formed up in their battalions, marched to the scene of the crime, and made to look at it with their eyelids pinned open until they get “the message” that the highjackers sent us on September 11, 2001. WE ARE AT WAR!

So, if one year later, the networks decide to show footage of people jumping from burning buildings, following them till they hit the ground in technicolor gore, again and again - I will not complain. It will mean that our media finally gets it. It will mean that they are ready to start treating us like adults. That will be a good thing. And if it is too much for you - turn off the TV. And if you still don’t “get it” after seeing these images, then have the good grace to shut up, go home, and hide under your bed until we tell you its safe to come out again.

But I don’t think we’ll see that. What we’ll probably see are talking heads urging us to move on and find closure. Psycho-bable experts will tell us to get past the anger and let the healing begin. University students and professors will urge us to embrace diversity and sing “Kum-Bye-Yah” in its original Arabic. So it will probably be me turning off the tube in disgust.

But, I will never forget those who died a year ago. I will never forget who did this or who helped and supported them. I will never stop insisting that those responsible are brought to justice by whatever means necessary. I will never forget that I live in the greatest nation history has ever known. I will never look at the New York City skyline and NOT see the Twin Towers standing proudly in my mind’s eye.

"That's the point, baby," I told him, "That's the point."

It most certainly is. As the saying goes, no one hates war more than soldier, because they must bear the awful burden. But too often the alternative is worse. 9/11 is a perfect example of what happens when you do not confront and stamp out evil when first it rears its ugly head. We have Clinton and the other peaceniks to thank for this little lesson.

I was updating my quotation archive when I came accross Reagan's Armed Forces Day speech from 1982. I just finished e-mailing it to my daughter who will be going to basic training in a month, and explained to her that I had listened to that speech on Armed Forces Radio while stationed in West Germany, while not much older than she is now.

It might also help you explain things to your son, so I'll post it here.

President Ronald Reagan, Radio Address to the Nation on Armed Forces Day, May 15, 1982.

My fellow Americans:

Today marks the United States' 33d observance of Armed Forces Day, a tradition begun by President Truman to honor the men and women who serve our country in uniform. I want to take this occasion to reflect on the job they're doing and what it means to us.

One of the oldest truths in the world is that nothing worth having is cheap. And many times, the greater the good, the higher its cost. Keeping America free has cost us dearly over the centuries. Since 1776 we as a nation have lost thousands of lives and suffered thousands of injuries to guarantee our freedom. Preserving the peace also requires the daily toil of millions of men and women who, without fanfare and glory, serve to protect our freedom and security.

The men and women in our armed services are our final protection against those who wish us ill. The soldier, the sailor, the airman, and the marine in the United States and around the world are the ultimate guardians of our freedom to say what we think, go where we will, choose who we want for our leaders, and pray as we wish.

It is sad that these rights, which should belong to all people, are not fully enjoyed by most of the human family. It is sadder still that some in the world view such freedom as a threat to their right to rule over their fellow citizens, and so long as that's true, we can't afford to take our freedom for granted. It cannot survive without protection. And for their role in protecting our freedoms, we honor the members of our volunteer Armed Forces today.

Their jobs are difficult, requiring judgment, technical know-how, endurance, and in many cases exposure to danger. We ask them to put in long hours under trying conditions. Many serve far from their homes and families, prepared, if need be, to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. In short, they give us their all.

So, I would like to thank them today: the Army tank crewmember in Germany or Korea, responsible for maintaining a 55-ton machine so that it's ready at a moment's notice; the sailor in the Indian Ocean who's been away from home for 4 months and is working 18 hours a day in a hot engine room or carrying chocks for returning aircraft; the Air Force security policeman guarding our nuclear alert aircraft in the Texas heat or the North Dakota winter; the Marine squad leader on Okinawa working with his men to provide the most efficient combat team in the world. All these people and the rest of their comrades in arms we thank today.

There is another group which deserves special thanks -- the wives of our servicemen, wives who take care of the families and raise the children while their husbands are at sea or stationed far away, and wives who have left our shores to be in a faraway land with their husbands.

I had a letter the other day from one young wife describing what life was like where they were stationed. I could read homesickness between the lines, but not one word of complaint -- only great pride in what her husband is doing. Their contribution is critical; the sepparation, the long hours, the hard work, and, up until recently, the low pay -- all these have been burdens to them as well. The understanding and encouragement they give our servicemen is something we must all be grateful for.

So, on behalf of all you listening, I want to take these few minutes today to thank our men and women in uniform and their families and to ensure them their government and their fellow citizens are determined to provide them with the equipment, training, and, just as importantly, the respect they have so richly earned. With their help, the United States remains at peace.

Our allies enjoy the same benefit. Our national determination to defend freedom at the borders where it's threatened is fully matched by the quality and spirit of the more than 2 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who proudly wear the American uniform.

I received another letter from one of our ambassadors in Europe. He wrote that a 19-year-old trooper in our armored cavalry had asked that he send me a message. It was: "Tell the President we're proud to be here, and we ain't scared of nothing."

In James Michener's book "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," he writes of an officer waiting through the night for the return of planes to a carrier as dawn is coming on. And he asks, "Where do we find such men?" Well, we find them where we've always found them. They are the product of the freest society man has ever known. They make a commitment to the military -- make it freely, because the birthright we share as Americans is worth defending. God bless America.

Thanks for tuning in. I'll be with you again next Saturday. Until then, God bless you.

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