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Regular readers of my journal can probably have a fairly good guess of how I feel about the 9/11 anniversary, so I'll save you the bandwidth and me the time by summarizing my position in one sentence:
I am more affraid of George Bush, John Ashcroft, and the U.S. government than I am of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
You should also know that September 11th is the anniversary of another occasion in which 3000 people died. Thirty years ago, however, the U.S. played the role of Al Qaeda.
One good way to remember "the terrible events of September the 11th" would be to give a full account of what happened, why, how it could have been avoided, and how we're prepared for broadly similar problems. For instance, why were prominant Saudis allowed to fly when American citizens couldn't? Why has the public information sharing system failed to reduce below 69% the number of people who think Saddam Hussen was involved in the attacks? Why did a CIA agent meet with Osama Bin Laden in France in the summer of 2001 (when he was a suspect for past terrorist activity) and not work with the French to have him arrested? For that matter, where is Osama?
In order for democracy to properly function, the populace must be fully informed. The investigations of 9/11 have left many questions unanswered, and the administration has not been particularly forward with information that will help us answer these questions. If they want us to support enhancements to the "USA PATRIOT" act (I hear the successor will be acronymized "VICTORY"), they should share just what went on and what's going on and why it's not what should be going on.
(Incidentally, these lengthier comments are less my feelings about the anniversary and more observations, so my "one sentence" promise was not invalidated :-)
And indirectly related, how many of the 25 most underreported stories do you know about?
I am more affraid of George Bush, John Ashcroft, and the U.S. government than I am of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
You should also know that September 11th is the anniversary of another occasion in which 3000 people died. Thirty years ago, however, the U.S. played the role of Al Qaeda.
One good way to remember "the terrible events of September the 11th" would be to give a full account of what happened, why, how it could have been avoided, and how we're prepared for broadly similar problems. For instance, why were prominant Saudis allowed to fly when American citizens couldn't? Why has the public information sharing system failed to reduce below 69% the number of people who think Saddam Hussen was involved in the attacks? Why did a CIA agent meet with Osama Bin Laden in France in the summer of 2001 (when he was a suspect for past terrorist activity) and not work with the French to have him arrested? For that matter, where is Osama?
In order for democracy to properly function, the populace must be fully informed. The investigations of 9/11 have left many questions unanswered, and the administration has not been particularly forward with information that will help us answer these questions. If they want us to support enhancements to the "USA PATRIOT" act (I hear the successor will be acronymized "VICTORY"), they should share just what went on and what's going on and why it's not what should be going on.
(Incidentally, these lengthier comments are less my feelings about the anniversary and more observations, so my "one sentence" promise was not invalidated :-)
And indirectly related, how many of the 25 most underreported stories do you know about?
