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9/11 became an excuse
by
Mary Shaw | 09.11.2008
I am so tired of the politics of fear and lying. And when it's done in the name of 9/11, it dishonors those who lost their lives in the attacks. 9/11 became an excuse By Mary Shaw (Reprinted with permission from www.maryshawonline.com) As I write this on the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones on this date in 2001. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for them to face this date each year, with memories of their loved ones fading farther and farther into the past. And my thoughts wander to how this country's leadership responded -- not with revenge on the attackers, at least not for very long, but rather through revenge on a then-unarmed country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. And then I become angry. Because 9/11 became an excuse. We started out on the right foot. We invaded Afghanistan, where the Taliban had allegedly been supporting al-Qaeda, and where Osama bin Laden was supposedly hiding out. We took down the Taliban. And we had Osama cornered at Tora Bora. All good. So what did we do next? We took our eye off the ball and changed our game plan. And, for reasons that all turned out to be lies, we diverted our troops to Iraq, where we've so far lost 4,155 (and counting). So now Osama bin Forgotten remains on the loose, where he pops up from time to time to thumb his nose at us in a video. Neener-neener-neener. Way to go, George W. But that's just the beginning. The Bush administration was on a roll, so they continued to use 9/11 as an excuse. They used 9/11 as an excuse to use racial profiling and other forms of discrimination against Muslims and Middle Eastern people. Guilty until proven innocent. They used 9/11 as an excuse to detain terror suspects indefinitely without charge and without legal recourse. Guilty until proven innocent. They used 9/11 as an excuse to curtail the civil rights of U.S. citizens. Probably guilty until proven innocent. And they used 9/11 as an excuse to torture. Guilty or not. And all the while they tell us that it's for our own good, our own protection, our own safety. After all, the terrorists hate our freedoms. Be afraid. I am so tired of the politics of fear and lying. And when it's done in the name of 9/11, it dishonors those who lost their lives in the attacks. And finally I wonder what I'll be writing next year on this anniversary. What will the "war on terror" look like under the next administration? It will certainly be very different depending on who wins the White House this November. We'll either have a continuation of the arrogant politics of fear and aggression, or else we'll have a new foreign policy based on a strong-yet-fair system of international diplomatic engagement and cooperation. The choice is ours. |
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Comentarios
Hey Mary
Submitted by Anonymous (no verificado) on Sáb, 09/13/2008 - 2:50pmYour progressive stupidity is showing. Thank the powers that be that stupid pieces of shit like you are regulated to writing ignorance on the net and not in some position of responsibility. Your stupidity is mind boggling.
Mary wrote a series of...
Submitted by Rich Gardner on Sáb, 09/13/2008 - 7:37pmdetailed charges accusing the Bush Administration of all manner of crimes, negligence, incompetence and dereliction of duty.
These comment fields allow plenty of space and you're allowed to put in links to more extensive commentary.
Come on guys! If these two-sentence comments are the best y'all can do, don't bother!
Rich Gardner
http://www.prawnworks.net/
Mary Wrote
Submitted by Brian McGee (no verificado) on Lun, 09/15/2008 - 8:07pma series of mainstream democratic talking points with links mostly to the Amnesty International website. Interestingly, she did not provide a link to back up the proposition that things will change depending on who "wins the White House." Come on guys! If these unoriginal thoughts are the best you can do, don't bother!
Brian McGee
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