9/11.

I looked back through my archives and I realized that I've never posted anything in regards to my thoughts on September 11th.

Some news stories and people will say "The events of September 11th, 2001." But I think if you just say 9/11 or September 11th, everyone knows exactly what you are talking about. You don't have to specify if you are referring to the Towers, Flight 93 or the Pentagon - Most people just lump it all under that one phrase.

I'm not going to talk about what I saw that day or how it unfolded for me, because that's all anyone has talked about for the last four years. I'd rather give you some thoughts I have on the disservice done to the memory of those who died that day.

Disservice?
Yeah, I said it - and here's why.

1. Why is Osama Bin Laden still running around out there? Once you publicly identify the main perpetrator in these crimes, why do you allow him to run free? All you are showing the world is that you are weak and ineffectual, and that one man can make a stand against your nation and not have to deal with the repercussions of his actions.
2. Why did the American government feel it was necessary to use the events of that day to justify the actions they are involved with now? In most of the things I've read in the papers, any talk about why they are in Iraq is answered as being part of the War on Terror. Since the Terror argument is a direct result of September 11th, you are indirectly telling people that is why you are there. I'd feel pretty shitty if someone killed my family, the cops knew who it was, and just used my loss as an excuse to bust a kid siphoning gas down the block.

I'm not an American. It's not my country that was directly attacked. But I'm not so naive as to believe that terrorists do not view us in the same light as our neighbors to the south. Yes, as Canadians we do not have the same heavy handed approach to foreign policy as the Americans do, thus we look better than them - but we don't do anything to protest or prevent the way they do things, thus we are lumped in the same group as them.
The attacks on that day were aimed at America, yet they were a warning to us all.

Unfortunately everything has gone to the shitter since then. At one time, all of America was focused on bringing down the people or governments responsible for what happened. The support for the Government was never higher. But now it's all fucked up; the country is divided and there is no faith in the Government to do the right thing.

Do I have the answers? No.
Do I feel that the chance we as a society had to capture and punish those responsible for these attacks has passed us by? Yes.
That's the disservice right there. Allowing that chance to slip away is one of the worst things a nation could do to the surviors and those left behind.

Later.