Posted on 03/11/2002 5:53:56 AM PST by veronica
I feel drained now, just with the images of it.
The playful innocence of that morning; the boyish enthusiasm of the “probie” fire-fighter; the sudden noise of a plane too low; the confusion of the first hit; the denial; the helplessness in the lobby of Tower 1;
Father Judge muttering his last prayers, as he paced the floor; the dread in the eyes of so many fire-fighters, about to enter the inferno; the foul, heart-stopping sound of bodies plunging to the ground; the dazed group of workers emerging from a suddenly-released elevator; the unforgettable footage under a car
as dust – human dust – swirled through the air, turning it black, and then darting around like specs of plankton under water; the crowds of bewildered, terrified people running and walking and screaming and pointing on the streets; a strong man and experienced fire-fighter vomiting into the Fire House trash-can upon his return; the ashen quiet of white-powdered streets in the aftermath; the bemused, almost deranged, calm of an old, heavy businessman slowly walking away from Tower 1, not thinking even to wipe his dust-covered glasses;
the strained and numbed relief of those finding their brothers are alive; the bleakness of those who weren’t so lucky. I would say I’m glad to be reminded, as one fire fighter put it, of “how evil evil can be.”
But there is no gladness. It is simply a good thing that we remember that we are still at war; that the enemy launched it with a callousness that should banish any doubts about the morality of our cause; and that, when resolve falters, we remember the people and civilization we’re fighting for and the thousands of victims who have already paid the price.
In an odd way, having seen it all again, I feel less afraid of what lies ahead, and more eager to get on with it.
The simple virtue of those rescuers remind us of what human beings are capable of, and the invincible character of the civilization they are a part of, however ruthless the evil arrayed against it.
Perhaps in your haste to condemn the film because of your need to see mangled bodies, you forgot that they showed Father Mychal Judge. While he was in the lobby and still alive, they showed a shot of him praying. After the 1st tower collapsed, they showed a filmed shot of the firefighters carrying him, but it showed only his boot. Cut into that sequence was the still picture of firefighters carrying his dead body to a nearby church. I'm sure you've seen it.
The symbolism of hearing the bodies crash to the ground and seeing the firefighters cringe was more than effective. Perhaps you need to see body parts and crushed skulls, but the families of the victims don't. Perhaps the film crew will recut the film for other audiences--particularly the Palestinians--who can dance and cheer when they see heads, arms, legs, lungs and spleen splattered all over the streets outsie of the WTC.
Most people here seem to be of the opinion that the sound of the people who leaped to their deaths was graphic enough. Perhaps it was, because I'll never forget that sound and the pictures of the firemen who heard them.
I didn't need graphic photos to imagine the carnage, but I think it was a little unrealistic to edit it out almost entirely.
Maybe I should have be more clear with my response
Sorry
March 11, 2002 -- Twin beams of light - switched on by the 12-year-old daughter of a hero Port Authority cop - will reach skyward from lower Manhattan tonight, capping a day of tributes to the victims six months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Valerie Webb will flip the switch on the "Tribute in Light" at 6:55 p.m. - honoring her dad, Nathaniel Webb, and nearly 3,000 others who died.
It's a tough call. As a the producer of the documentary, I'd have to ask myself which of the victims' families would win the lottery and get to see their loved ones' burning to death, or charred/pulverized remains on national TV. My answer would be "None of them."
The paper has decided on it's own not to include any pictures of that day because in their opinion, we've had enough.'
Willoughby, eh? Must be trying to live up to their Twilight Zone ambience. ("This stop is Willoughby...")
It was chilling to actually watch the first call of the FDNY Captain, speeding to the WTC after witnessing the first plane hit. He said over the radio "It looks like the plane intentionally hit the building." It was obvious to eyewitnesses immediately. It was too fantastic for anybody to believe during the initial secondhand reports.
The falling bodies' sound DID NOT need any film accompiament. Reminded me of a Hitchcock thriller.......you didn't need to see the blood. You knew enough.
Extremely well done documentary. I wish I would have taped it.
http://messages.iwon.com/jsp/topicview.jsp?tid=97931&va=8
Forcing others to "tremble at our approch" IS a form of weakness. It's like the bully at school that is constantly beating up smaller kids. That bully goes home and his Dad probably beats him and the rest of his siblings. So, instead of standing up to his father (the actual problem) he masks his feelings and compensates for his shortcomings by making those smaller than him feel inferior. That kid later grows up to kill his son's hockey coach, because rather than be the bigger man, he chose the easy "strike fear" attitude towards problem solving. Well, who's the tough guy now?
We, as a nation, could show the world how civilized society deals with it troubles. We could show our country is so strong that it will take a lot more than a few religous zealots living in caves to topple democracy. We have an opportunity to show the rest of the world the the United States is a mature culture, that does not need to resort to violence to get our points across, and is willing to listen rather than blindly assuming that it's Arabs against Americans.
Instead, we have stepped down to the level of our enemy. We have spent the last six months bombing an innocent country for the crimes of a very small number of its citizens. Osama bin Laden attacked a country for the crimes of a very small number of its people. How do our actions make us strong, while bin Laden's actions make him evil?
One more thing. The Taliban used to hold public executions as a tactic for keeping their people in line. Using fear to control is a fundimental part of terrorism and despotism. If we are to use even the threat of nuclear retaliation to make our enemies "tremble with fear", then how are we at all better than terrorists themselves?
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Yes, innocent.
We were attacked by an organization called "Al-Queda" headed by a religous zealot named Osama bin Laden. Instead of hunting down and capturing these criminals in a proper fashion, we bombed Afghanistan, a country that, for the most part, is not populated by terrorists.
Osama bin Laden believes that we, and the western civilization in general, are evil and to blame for the poor living conditions and injustices commited on his people. He attacked our country because he feels, however miguided, he is right to attack our country. Basically, he has attacked our entire population for the crimes of a very small percentage of it. So how do we respond...
BY ATTACKING HIS ENTIRE COUNTRY FOR THE CRIMES OF A SMALL FEW!!!
So please, cut and paste boy, justify our hypocrisy. Convince me that obliterating our problems is just as good as solving them. Show me that our actions, however similar, are somehow more rightous than bin Laden. How did it come to pass that we are the ultimate "good guy", completely without blame or guilt?
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http://messages.iwon.com/jsp/topicview.jsp?tid=95351&va=1
You can't fight a war against terrorism for the same reason you can't a war against murder. War invariably leads to terrorism, and murder is murder no matter how you slice it. The only way to "beat terrorism" is to make America a place that people don't want to terrorize. Otherwise, it will by an eye for an eye for an eye until there aren't anymore eyes left. Then we'll just have a bunch of blind terrorists mad at blind Americans for making them blind. The rage builds and the cycle starts all over again.
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Ask yourself why this faction of people saw fit to attack us. Was it because they want to dismantle democrocy? Was it because they want to rule the world? Was it because God told them to?
No. It was because they feel, however misguided their feelings are, that are being oppressed by Americans and the western civilization in general. They feel that it is our fault that they live in poor, bombed out shantytowns. They feel that we are denying them medical goods, and keep their prices high. They have no food, little water and less education and are looking for someone to blame. They feel that they have to wage war, not only to destroy us, but to save themselves. In a sense, they are fighting for the same things we are: freedom.
I would never say that the people that commited the attacks of Sept. 11th should not be punished. Of course they should. But can you honestly believe that carpet bombing a country that isn't quite ready to hand over one of its citizens to a secret military tribunal is going to help the issue?
The World Trade Center was brought down by people looking to punish a country for the crimes of a very small percentage of its citizenry. How do we respond? By bombing a country for the crimes of a small percentage of its citizenry. A tad bit hypocritcal, wouldn't you say?
Here's a thought: What happens after the war in Afghanistan ends? Will we stay and help them to their feet? Will we help them rebuild and fortify their country? Or will we bail on them again like we did whe the Soviet Union was repelled? And who did we leave in charge: the Taliban. And who did we train to fight the Soviets while we were fighting the contrived evils of Communism? Osama bin Laden. We need to take a good look at ourselves! We need to stop finding scapegoats for our probelms and start solving things! This American "Poor Me, what did I ever do" bullshit needs to end and its time to grow up as a society. If we want to stop terrorism, then we need to be bigger than the terrorists. Because if we keep using violence to solve our problems, then the cycle continues, and the terrorists will have won.
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