Remembering 9-11, Seven Years Later

I remember telling my wife "we're going to war" as the towers collapsed on that September day in 2001. I didn't feel we should go to war but I knew in the cynical depths of my gut, Bush and Cheney would take us to war.

I remember not being surprised. I'm old and have lived through Vietnam, the Cuban missile crisis, the Cold War, the assassination of JFK, MLK, RFK and Malcolm. I've lived during the times of lynching, fire hoses and police dogs used against black citizens, Church bombings against black citizens and the blame for all the nation's ills on blacks and other non-whites. This always contradicted the fact power has always rested with whites.

I grew up ducking under desks in the ludicrous exercise to protect myself against nuclear attack. I grew up in fear some politician in some part of the world would start a war that would truly end the world. And it seemed most likely the politician could be American. Fifty years after ducking under my desks I still visit missile sites with nuclear war-heads at constant ready. The danger still exists but we've grown apathetic to that danger.

I remember the first Earth Day and the issues were exactly the same as they are today. That was in the 70’s. The only difference is we may be too late and all the wars and stupidity of politics will mean nothing. We will have poisoned our planet and destroyed most species on Earth because we wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t see and wouldn’t sense things were wrong with the environment. We take the most important things for granted and eventually we must pay for our neglect.

I remember burning crosses and white hoods being almost a normal event. I remember Kent State students being shot by American National Guardsmen, black students at Jackson State and an Orangeburg, S.C. bowling alley being beaten and shot and high school students in L.A. and other Chicano neighborhoods being gassed and beaten by police.

I remember the Tet Offensive of 1968 well from personal experience. I remember hearing D.C. and other American cities were burning after Dr. King was shot while there in Vietnam. I remember the fall of Saigon after 3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 plus American lives were lost. I remember veterans marching on the White House to throw medals over a fence. I remember J. Edgar Hoover's FBI tapping the phones of so many of us.

I saw an American President impeached for a single break in, another one almost impeached for a blow job and another one never coming close to being impeached for being a war criminal. I saw a B-movie actor become President and an election stolen by a political party priding itself on the legacy of Lincoln.

I've seen South Africa apartheid come to an end and Israeli apartheid continue. I've seen the American capitol look like a third world banana republic with snipers and police presence more that of a dictatorship than a democracy. I've seen six conventions where police beat down free speech in Chicago, Miami, New York, Boston, Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

I've been alive so long there is not enough memory left to remember all the tragic and dramatic events of this nation since 1949. September 11, 2001 was only one event of so many. What September 11, 2001 did symbolize was the beginning of a new and more dangerous tyranny being allowed to take place in America. If 2000 marked the stealing of an election for the Presidency, 9-11 marked the entrenchment of the thieves.

For most this year, as every year since 2001, all eyes will be on New York City where nearly 3,000 lives were lost. I can no longer look toward New York, however. My thoughts and heart goes out to the children of Baghdad who endured a decade of starvation and deprivation brought to them by sanctions and who then had to endure American "shock and awe". Far more than two thousand children were lost to a war that should never have happened and only happened to allow Americans to avenge two thousand.

I'll think of the city of Fallujah that was destroyed and destroyed again by Americans after mercenaries of Blackwater incited their anger with tactics of goons and thugs. I think of the photos of Dhar Jamail showing dogs eating humans on the streets of Fallujah while Marines patrolled the streets.

I recall the stories of my friend, Dahlia Wasfi, describing the lack of electricity and potable water during her two journeys to Basrah to visit family members following the start of the war. I think of her father here in America not being able to see his family again because it was so unsafe.

I think of the legalization of torture by an American government intent on destroying all the moral values of this nation for some concept of "protecting" the American people. I think of the stories by veterans with saddened eyes about running children and other civilians over in convoys because rules of engagement wouldn't allow them to stop.

I think of Jeff Lucey and Doug Barber who killed themselves in the aftermath of their war experiences in Iraq. I think of the many families who never got the same person back from the wars. I think of Pat Tillman being declared a hero only to find out he was killed by his own troops. I think of Suzanne Swift and all the thousands of American women who were troops in the wars that were not only exposed to combat PTSD but sexual assault and harassment caused PTSD inflicted by the men in their units.

I think of mothers losing children. Fathers seeing sons without arm or legs. Daughters never knowing their mother. Sons without fathers. American parents, Iraqi parents and parents of the people of Afghanistan all cry for their lost children. They lose countless hours of sleep in dread and worry, not knowing if their children are safe.

I think of my mental health patients that have had their care reduced, their medical and housing expenses cut because over 10 billion dollars each month is being spent for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think of kids doing without prenatal care, healthcare and quality education here in the U.S. because the money was being used to wage wars. I think of political parties spending obscene amounts to campaign while millions die around the world from our wars and their effects.

I think of Gino Strada and Kathy Kelly trying to join with other dedicated humans to help the victims of war. I think of jails being filled with non-violent peace makers who had the courage to resist. I think of the failure of moral leaders in churches and other areas of public life to call out against the madness of this time when life is cheap and expendable to the American government.

I wonder if the people of Afghanistan feel safer today because we've brought them democracy. I wonder if the people of Iraq can still love Americans as they did before we destroyed their nation. I wonder if my grandchildren will have any rights left by the time they become my age. I wonder if the homeless care about Sarah Palin's lipstick or Barack Obama's pig. I wonder if the hero status of John McCain is the same in Haiphong and Hanoi as it is here in the U.S.. And I wonder how we could dare call him a hero.

On September 11, 2001 it wasn't only the Twin Towers that fell; it was the honor of Americans and America that was falling. The goodwill of the world toward this nation was soon dried up as illegal and immoral wars based on lies, greed and corruption poisoned it.

September 11, 2001 was symbolic of the hate the American government has brought down on this nation by continued militarism, war-mongering and support of dictators and tyrants instead of freedom and liberation. It was symbolic of the anger created by the pillaging of nations for natural resources to perpetuate American narcissism and consumerism.

We can delude ourselves in this nation that we're loved by the world, that we're moral and a beacon of freedom but the ugly American truth is we're feared as a bully, we've lost our moral beacon and even our own people don't recognize the concept of freedom. Instead we mistake it for nationalism and a phony sense of patriotism.

As sad as the eleventh day of September was seven years ago, it is even sadder we've not even come close to understanding what caused those events to happen. We continue to ignore the many elephants in the rooms that should tell us we have failed our responsibilities as true patriots and true citizens of the world. We have failed to lead and instead ignored the poorest and most in need peoples of our world to carry out our own supposed manifest destiny. We decry religious fanatics and radicals that seek to destroy us but allow our own religious fanatics and radicals to destroy us.

I can hardly remember that day seven years ago because my mind has been scarred by the horrific events we've allowed to happen as a response to that day. Instead of looking at "ground zero" I look at the ground of New Orleans still moldy from neglect. I think about the depleted uranium and PTSD that is still to come back to haunt us.

It is a day of national reflection. Let's hope we can reflect beyond the city of New York to the lessons of our world that we've failed to learn.

Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW member
USMC combat veteran "67-`69