This is for the 2,977 Americans who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
On this day 9 years ago I was in high school. In my first class of the day I heard one of my fellow classmates talking about a dumb pilot who crashed into a building. It didn't sound serious. My next class was social studies, and the teacher had a TV in the room and told us that instead of our regular lesson plan, we were going to watch the news. It was then that I saw that it was no small plane that hit. The first tower was smoking, and the news anchors were trying to figure out what happened. As they were talking, a second plane came in a hit the other tower. 2,977 Americans were murdered that day.
The chaos, the rubble, people running through the streets. The worst thing I've witnessed in my life is those towers collapsing. Lives snuffed out in an instant. I can't imagine what those people felt. I cannot possibly know what it felt like to be at work, and suddenly have a plane hit the building. Even if you survived the initial crash, trying to get out amidst the panic. Would any of them been aware enough to realize the building was going to collapse upon them? 2,977 Americans.
19 terrorists died that day. Those 19, and those who have since been killed, are not enough to make up for what they did that day. I am glad we went after the terrorists, but I am not glad that we haven't followed through to the full extent. Starting with Vietnam, we have been trying to fight politically correct wars. The trouble with that is that there is no way to win a war with political correctness. Innocent people will die, innocent people did die, including 2,977 Americans.
What determines innocence? What determines guilt? The hijackers are guilty of murder and terrorism. The terrorists who planned and organized it are guilty. And, those people that stood by and let terrorists thrive in their country are guilty. If the terrorists are hiding in hospitals and mosques in hopes that our armed forces won't bomb them for fear of harming the 'innocent,' we should bomb the hell out of those places (only if we know terrorists are hiding in them). Is that a bit harsh and cold? Not only is it not as harsh as killing 2,977 Americans for no reason, but it is justified.
If the citizens of Afghanistan weren't aware how evil terrorists are and allowed them to stay in their country, they must be taught. Every action has a reaction. If you allow your country to foster terrorism, and that terrorism costs the lives of innocents, you are partly to blame. The only people in the world who understand this principle are Americans. Americans wanted no part of the repressive and evil nature of the King of England, so we took on the biggest army in the world. You know what England learned? They learned that the greatest power in the world is not how big your army is, but that the greatest power in the world is freedom. A freedom which was taken from 2,977 Americans on September 11, 2001.
The people of the middle, after hearing the news of the attacks, were not appalled and they did not immediately try to purge their region of evil. Some leaders condemned the attacks, but others said that America got what it deserved. Some fired their weapons in the air to celebrate, and some danced in the streets. Every human has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 2,977 Americans were denied that right.
In order to make sure something this terrible never happens again on American soil, we have to show no mercy. Political correctness is all about mercy and tolerance. Political correctness is our modus operandi. We don't need to bomb them until they can't be bombed anymore, we need to bomb them until they understand never to attack us again. If you have any qualms about my stance, I encourage you to watch United 93 (2006, Paul Greengrass). It is such a powerful film that I only watched it once, in theaters. I own it, but I'm not sure I could handle watching it again. It is the most emotional film I have ever seen. People were sobbing in the theater, I was sobbing in the theater. 2,977 Americans weren't alive to sob in the theater.
I remember where I was, where were you when 2,977 Americans were murdered? As Americans, as people, as humans, we cannot forget what happened on this day 9 years ago. We must defend our unalienable rights. We cannot allow evil to survive. We must be strong.
© 2010 Nate Phillipps
If you do not have a responsibility towards anyone but yourself, you are not responsible to care for those who were murdered. In fact, Ayn Rand seems to say you should not care for them. How much do you agree with her?
ReplyDeleteI am not my brother's keeper, I am my own keeper. I can place value on anyone or anything that I want, but with that said, the only appropriate time to use violence is in response to violence (which Ayn Rand also said). The unprovoked violence of 9/11 not only killed 2,977 Americans, but was a direct attack on our way of life.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that I am not obligated to care about anyone but myself, but that does not mean that I am not allowed to care for people. I do not place a value on everybody, but when it comes down to it, I value Americans more than the Taliban. I value life more than death. It is not my duty to care for, or to protect anyone but myself. I will always act in my own best interest. My best interest includes not worrying about being murdered, but that doesn't mean I trust to government to do that job.
I agree with Ayn Rand, you do not have to care for anybody if you don't want to, but if you do care for them, you had better know why. She cared for her husband, and was still an individualist.