9/11 Remembered

It would be inappropriate not to blog about the significance of today's date - the anniversary of what might well prove to be the defining moment of my generation. When hijacked airliners plunged into the World Trade Center in New York City, the world changed and it's never been the same since.

I always feel deeply uncomfortable on this day. I wasn't in New York until a few weeks after 9/11 - so whatever contribution I can make to marking his important anniversary seems rather hollow. Similarly, even though I'm fiercely proud of the United States, I'm not much of a flag-waver either - especially since the significance of this date is being hijacked by opportunistic propagandists like the disgusting Glenn Beck.

All I can do is look back objectively at the legacy of 9/11 - to many people, that means 'the war.'

Many people criticize America's military retaliation in Afghanistan - but even though Operation Enduring Freedom launched an ongoing conflict that has cost the lives of hundreds of servicemen, reports like this one highlight an undiplomatic truth liberal-minded people like myself don't like to admit. It worked.

Al Qaeda went from controlling the foothills of Afghanistan to hiding out in caves and sloping across the border into Pakistan. Instead of emerging as a dominant regional collective, the foot soldiers of Al Qaeda are now estimated to number in the mere hundreds - scattered and impotent in the face of remorseless pressure from US and Allied policing.

The war in Iraq is a murkier subject. It's been proven conclusively that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was in no way linked to Al Qaeda or the terrorist attacks on the United States. In fact, he was one of militant Islam's staunchest enemies - and whatever you say about his despicable regime, it was highly effective in suppressing the influence Al Qaeda.

So by invading and toppling his dictatorship, the United States created a power vacuum that extremists like Al Qaeda rushed to fill - perhaps a serious tactical mistake.

But the extremists have so far failed to fill that gap. Even though it comes at a heavy price (the lives of thousands of US servicemen) America's legacy in 'free' Iraq will hopefully be the foundation of a secure government that rejects extremism. Many Sunni insurgents have already allied with Americans instead of Al Qaeda. Hopefully, that alliance will last.

Whether we made the right decisions after 9/11 is a tricky question - and one very few people agree on. What we should agree on, however, is that we're immensely lucky to have hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform risking their lives to protect us as a result of what happened.

One can criticize the war in Iraq, or the political motivation behind it - but you can't question the motivations of the individual soldiers camped out in the Persian desert. They don't risk their lives for oil rights, or protecting Israel, or empire building (or a hundred other murky motivations detractors have proposed for why Bush went to war.)

The soldiers themselves do it because it's their duty. They do it to protect their families, and friends (and even the ungrateful people waving 'End this War' banners in Washington D.C.) They do it because they believe they're making the world a safer place, to avoid ever seeing another tragedy like when the Twin Towers fell.

And if their sacrifice is the legacy of 9/11 - then it's one we should be very grateful for.

Glenn Beck looks to the Third Reich for inspiration...

"When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts."

Glenn Beck (in Nike sneakers, right)

Coffee Bean wrote, as usual, a very intelligent, thought-provoking response to my evisceration of former local radio hack Glenn Beck. I was furious with him for his revolting exploitation of the 9-11 terrorist attack - creating what he dubbed 'The 9-12 Project' to 'return America to the mindset it had the day after the Twin Towers fell.'

Jodi shared my opinion of this idiot, responding: "On 9/12 I was angry, scared and depressed. I felt utter helpless and hopeless. So, yeah. Can't wait to feel THAT again."

Coffee Bean tried to explain what she believed the 9-12 project was all about - in a way that was far more clear, concise and heartfelt than anything Glenn Beck had said. (We really should petition for Fox News to give her Beck's job - we could get Kathleen Turner to do the voice-over work if Coffee Bean's not happy about speaking on air.)

CB wrote:

"[The 9-12 project is about] remembering how awful 9/11 was and how we were all Americans first. [It's about] trying to get people to come together and start becoming more aware of what is going on in our country. He's trying to get people to start paying more attention to their neighbors and develop deeper relationships..."

I think that's a wonderful, admirable intention and would entirely support it- if I believed for one second that this was truly the intention behind Glenn Beck's project. I don't, however. I know exactly what he's thinking and exactly why he chose 9-11 as the launching point for his despicable little crusade.

If Beck was genuine in his intentions, he'd have turned not to the devastating tragedy of September 11, but to some positive, unifying date in American history. At the risk of sounding hokey, the 7-4 project (July 4th) would be an ideal choice.

Independence Day is when Americans come together to celebrate the principles of individual freedom, equality and liberty - the ones that inspired peaceful men to take up arms against the British and fight for their freedom.

The 9-12 project, on the other hand, celebrates a very different 'unifying event.' The day after the Twin Towers fell, Americans huddled together in fear and anger, unified in blind nationalism and hatred of an unknown enemy.

It was those numb months following the attacks of September 11th that led to the Patriot Act, the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the invasion of Iraq and the approval of 'torturing' prisoners. Using fear as a winding sheet, the administration pressured the American people into condoning a course of action which was in violation of every founding principle of the United States.

And, for some reason, it's that mentality Glenn Beck wants to re-inspire in Americans with the 9-12 Project. Nationalism, fear, hatred and suspicion. It's a technique that's worked extremely well for other regimes in the past.

The obvious parallel is the Reichstag Fire of February 1933, when communist terrorists set the seat of the German parliament ablaze.

In the aftermath of that devastating attack, the German nation fell in support of a man whose political currency was 'fear' and 'hatred.' That man was Adolf Hitler - and the Reichstag Fire is often accredited as the defining event which led to his election as supreme Chancellor.

Even at the risk of falling foul of Godwin's Law and Leo Strauss's indictment of the Reductio ad Hitlerum argument, I think it's fair to point out the similarity between what happened after the Reichstag Fire and what Glenn Beck wants to achieve with the 9-12 project.

If there was even a shred of positivity behind what Beck wanted to achieve, he would have based his 'project' around a positive event. Instead, because he wants to exploit America's fear and suspicion, he chose to hijack a true American tragedy and exploit it for his own ends.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not equating Glenn Beck with Hitler - far from it. At best, Glenn Beck is attempting to be a second-rate Goebbels - and almost a decade too late even for that.

All I'm pointing out is his bankrupt morality - the disgusting way he took a real tragedy from recent American history and manipulated it to his own ends. What made it even worse is his abject contempt for the real victims of 9-11 - the ones who lost family when the Twin Towers fell.

"When I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh, shut up!' I'm sick of them." Glenn Beck, on his radio show

Beck is a wannabe little fascist, puffing up his feathers, squawking patriotic soundbites and trying to sound relevant in a world that has thankfully moved on from 'the day after 9-11.'

It's that 'moving on' which terrifies him. Glenn Beck's career was built on 9-11 (his Tampa, Fla. radio show was only syndicated nationally the days after the Twin Towers fell.)

By pushing so hard to give birth to this vile '9-12 Project', he's revealed how desperate he is to keep that fear and uncertainty alive - because that's all his pathetic 'career' is based on...

...that, and a rather uncanny similarity to the actor who portrayed 'The Voice of London' in the popular movie V for Vendetta. Watch the clips and compare for yourself:

Authentic propaganda from Glenn Beck himself:



'The Voice of London' from the classic movie V for Vendetta:

Glenn Beck -

"It took me about a year to start hating the 9/11 victims' families. When I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh, shut up!' I'm sick of them."

Glenn Beck, founder of the '9/12 project'

There are plenty of inflammatory figures in the arena of political punditry, but you'd be hard pressed to find one more disgusting than Glenn Beck.

A former local radio hack, this publicity-craving sellout is currently hosting a self-named show on Fox News, during which he proudly launched 'The 9/12 Project' - a campaign to encourage Americans to 'act as they did the day after 9/11.'

I'm not sure what he could possibly mean by that. Having first arrived in America about a month after September 11th 2001, I distinctly remember the atmosphere then - and it was one of fear, anger, resentment and hollow sadness. I don't think any New Yorker would want to go back to feeling like they did that day.

As far as I'm aware, Glenn Beck was sunning himself in Tampa, Fla. when the Twin Towers fell, explaining why he has no idea what the tragedy was like for the people directly affected by it.

The 9/12 project is supposed to advocate '9 Principles' and '12 Values.' Ironically, as Glenn Beck has illustrated time and time again (by comments like the one I started this post with) he actually has no principles - rendering him unqualified to preach on that topic.

The '9/12' project is so absolutely disgusting because it milks a tragedy that Beck clearly has no understanding of. He's already stated that he loathes the actual victims of the terrorist attacks. In tours across what he called 'the real America,' he expressed his contempt and loathing for the liberal proclivities of New York City itself.

He actually hates the people affected by the attacks, which makes his cynical use of their suffering even more revolting.

Glenn Beck doesn't care about what really happened on 9/11 or how it really affected the family of those murdered by Al Queda. He just wants to use the tragedy to further his pathetic 'career'. He's a disgusting self-publicist clambering to infamy on the bones of 2,974 slaughtered innocents.

As a so-called Christian, he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself.

I wasn't in New York for the attacks of 9/11 - but in the years I've spent visiting and living in this wonderful city, I've met hundreds of people who were. I have one friend who was actually in the towers when the planes hit. Others I know lost friends, colleagues and family members when the buildings fell.

The 9/12 project is nothing short of Glenn Beck going up to each one of these fine people and metaphorically spitting in their face. The man is nothing short of a disgrace.

A Day that will Live in Infamy

The attacks of September 11th 2001 will always be the ‘Where Were You When…?’ of my generation.

Especially here in New York. At work today, there was a subdued atmosphere. Nobody living or working this close to the Big Apple managed to escape the tragedy of 9/11 untouched, so absolutely everybody I meet and talked to had a vivid story behind what happened that fateful Tuesday morning.

9/11 made the world change. From the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Centre emerged a ‘War on Terror’ that took America down the path towards conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The lackadaisical presidency of President Bush was transformed into his rugged White House War Machine – support or hatred for which divided the nation.

Images of orange jump suits and rows of coffins draped in the Stars-and-Stripes appeared on our TV sets.

Gitmo. The Patriot Act. Operation Enduring Freedom. Misunderestimated. All these words entered our common vocabulary as a result of al-Qiada’s brutal and cowardly attack.

But as one of my colleagues told me today – it’s not the time to think about any of that.

He is pretty liberal leaning. He has a lot of unanswered questions about what happened before and after 9/11 and where it’s taken the country he loves. But today, none of that matters.

He said it’s time to remember those who passed away in the tragedy. We can question the ‘why’ and the ‘who’ afterwards.

Almost 3,000 people were murdered that fateful morning and via ‘six degrees of separation,’ that leaves very few Americans untouched by the tragedy. The attacks left widows and orphans across the United States. On this date, it’s our duty to remember them.

246 plane passengers.
2,200 civilians at the World Trade Centre
125 at the Pentagon
343 FDNY Firefighters
23 NYPD Police Officers
37 Port Authority Police Officers

2,974 murdered people.

We will remember you.

Osama Bin Laden

I am trying to avoid getting political in my blog, since there are many people, equally as unqualified as me, who think that their opinion is more worth listening to. I ought to give them space to rant. I don't know anything either. Opinions are like noses - we all have them.

However, who can ignore Osama Bin Laden's sixth anniversary present to America? A video in which he suggests the only solution to the war in Iraq is that America embrace Islam.

An entire nation convert. And not just to 'Islam.' To an approved TYPE of Islam. After all, the only thing the Shi'a hate more than Americans are the Sunni.

Osama Bin Laden (if it really is him and not some stooge in a fake beard and a wig) is a dick.

He's been given so much ammunition. A quagmire in Iraq. A nation split between support for it's cowboy president and unmitigated hatred. If ever there was a time for Osama Bin Laden, the most hated man in America (closely followed by George Bush, if you follow certain news channels) to make a statement that the American people would listen to, this was it.

And what happens?

The bastard makes a clearly impossible demand that firmly reestablishes al-Qaida's commitment to chaos. He has no aims apart from continuing the Jihad against America. As far as Osama Bin Laden is concerned, there can be no peace while a sovereign American nation continues to exist.

His demands are deliberately unobtainable. He doesn't want to win. He only wants to fight and kill and lead thousands of martyred sheep to their doom.

It's a pretty depressing thought, but also a sobering one. America can't find a diplomatic solution to this crisis no matter what it does, short of ceasing to exist.

Many Americans consider themselves divided. In actual fact, they're more united than ever. Whether liberal or Conservative - red or blue - they're all equally despised in the eyes of al-Qiada.

Nothing any of us can do will ever 'win over' the enemy. Whether we stay in Iraq or flee, the war against democracy and freedom will continue.

The jihad is here. It's now. And it's not going away in a hurry no matter who you vote for, which radio station you listen to or what political pundit you support.