More than six years following the devastating tragedy that occurred Sept. 11, 2001; one has to beg the question: have we as a nation already become desensitized to the horrific events of that day? Or are we still living vigilantly, as if our soil had just been attacked? Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between.
It’s easy for people to get discouraged over the governments handling (or mishandling) of the War on Terror. Rather than pursue Osama bin Laden the perpetrator of the attacks a any cost, the fight was taken to Iraq. It is here that the Bush Administration has opted to pursue the business of nation-building instead of hunting down the people responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.
Like I said, it’s easy to get discouraged over the results (or lack thereof) of the war thus far. But that doesn’t make anyone less patriotic. As Mark Twain put it, “Patriotism is supporting your country at all times and your government when it deserves it.” Having said that, I believe it is critical that we remain committed to the cause of fighting terror – wherever it may be. Sure Iraq was a mistake; but the fact is that we are there now and we’ll probably have to stay there for a while until we can bring our troops back home. Am I happy about that? No, not at all. But the fact is that a withdrawal would be disastrous. Last I heard, the American people didn’t give up on a job before it was finished. Americans usually don’t just forget things like a natural disaster or a stunning attack on our own soil. Then again, from what I’ve seen lately in the news it’s not that hard to become distracted from things that really matter.
When Miss South Carolina screwed up on national television, delivering an absurd answer to a relatively easy question in Miss Teen USA, she got to go onto the Today Show. Why? So a beauty queen made a fool out of herself on TV…so what? Is it really worth putting her on the cover of a newspaper or letting her tell her ‘side of the story’ when that coverage could have gone to educating people about what’s going on in Iraq? Or maybe the space could’ve gone to a story about how almost three quarters of New Orleans is still in ruins following Hurricane Katrina.
The reality of the situation is that our generation has its work cut out for it. But since when has that stopped any group of Americans before?
The only mistake in this global war on terror is that we still have the gloves on. If you want it to end, it’s not going to be pretty.
Unfortunately, from what I see in people today is that if it’s too hard, folks don’t want to do it. Does anyone today think about how the New York City subway system was built more than 100 years ago? People just take for granted that it’s there. No thinking about the inordinate manpower hours and all the work that went into it.
The same goes for this War on Terror. Does anyone truly understand what its like to walk in the boots of our soldiers? Do you know how you would react with Improvised Explosives and bullets flying? Be honest, most of you don’t, but you certainly do have an opinion as to how it could be done better, don’t you?
9/11 united us all for a brief fleeting moment…and then it got hard. As the years go by we should keep focused on fighting this war (remember when it was still a ‘just’ war?) but make sure we’re doing it the right way.
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