Careful Now

I didn’t know anyone that died in the World Trade Center tragedy, but just the idea of those towers coming down was enough to make me want to wage a personal war on the bastards responsible for it.

See, my heart has beat in this skyline long before I ever moved back here, and while it wasn’t a human life – to which nothing else can compare – I still felt like something had been taken from me that I would never get back, and it hurt. I have always held a fierce allegiance to NYC, refusing to claim any other region I may have inhabited, no matter how long I inhabited it, and if you know anything at all about me, you know that that will never change. I took it personal, and that was on TOP of the devastation I felt for all the lives lost. So I “get” the sentiment – the sense of closure…. relief…. vengeance…. victory……. now that Osama bin Laden has been killed and buried at sea. I understand the claims of justice being done. I can even relate to the sense of pride re-stitched into the fabric of our country, in the knowledge that our own armed forces brought this menace to his demise. I felt all of these emotions when I finally saw the video this morning of our first black president, proclaiming the death of bin Laden, proudly taking responsibility for the directives that yielded this result, and blessing America, in the memory of September 11, 2001.

My eyes burned a little. They did. I felt some palpitations. I did. But when the video stopped, and I turned to look out my office window, the towers were still gone.

The death toll from 9/11 had not been wiped clean.

And our troops weren’t boarding flights headed home.

But…….. people were dancing and chanting in the streets....

They were gathered outside the White House, and various other places of note, singing patriotic hymns.

They were posting on Facebook, from all over the world, countless variations of three little words: “We got him.”

We got him. Mm.

Well, yes… I guess we did. It’s very easy to slip into a space of this being the end of a painful chapter in our national history, but I caution against getting too comfortable with that position. It’s quite easy to kill a man. How do you kill an idea? To quote the Facebook status of a friend of mine, currently stationed on an army base in Indiana:


“Osama may be dead, but terrorism is far from being crushed. For every Osama there are countless followers waiting to step up and take his place. Don't for one minute think that we are any safer or any less of a target. His death will only help fuel their passion to do harm.”



And later, in his thread:


“It is a HUGE moral victory and for that of the families directly impacted by 911, no doubt. Outside of that it def is a win for our military, but as you well know, it does nothing to stop terrorism in itself. It merely pisses a few more crazies off and gives us more reasons to stay the course.”



*thoughtful silence*


I saw this comment on another thread:


"In 2001 when the towers fell I watched news clips of people in the middle east celebrating. It turned my stomach to think that they could celebrate all those deaths. Last night I watched as people across the USA celebrate Bin Laden's death and thought Dear God we're no better than them. I take great joy in knowing that this man can't hurt anyone again, and I know it had to be done. I say God Bless these men and woman that had to perform such a task, but do we truly need to celebrate the loss of human life."



Dear God, we're no better than them.

My prayers go out to all the families affected by the 9/11 tragedy, as well as those across the sea, who have been victims of Al Qaeda’s treachery. I commend Barack Obama and his administration for making good on a promise made to millions, and being able to achieve what his predecessor could not, as well as the sharp and coordinated efforts of the Seals and other military personnel that executed the given orders to bring bin Laden to…………….… justice? Mm. Well it will be interesting to see how both Obama and his opponents spin this event to their advantage. While they all play “six of one, half a dozen of another,” I challenge all of you to look behind the curtain. Recognize that this is only the beginning for our troops over there. Shit is gonna get a lot worse for them before it gets better. Pray for them. And pray for the rest of us Americans, our administration included, who in our arrogance will rest too heavily on these laurels, when we’ve only “won” a small battle in a war that is still, very much, raging.

That said, I leave you something to ponder……….



"Humans say they seek security and quiet, conditions they call peace. Even as they speak they create the seeds of turmoil and violence."


"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is true of humans. The human question is what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive."

~ Frank Herbert