The shock of "911"

Taking precedence over everything else this month were the horrible events at the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. To witness these events on national television was absolutely horrible; our sympathies for the grieving families and friends of the victims is boundless!! -- We ask ourselves, "Why?"

While the events of September 11, 2001 shocked Americans from a catatonic state, the events couldn't open our collective eyes to their cause.

Understandably, our nations' people reacted in sudden acts of long forgotten patriotism to country, and at least a momentary return to calls for God's protection and support. It is indeed lamentable that for a great many, God and patriotism have been long scorned, only to be seized upon as a last resort, when the unthinkable occurs!

As for ourselves, we were patriotic even when patriotism wasn't "cool".

However, President Bush's proclamation that these were "the acts of cowards" who "hated us for our virtues" and "hated freedom and democracy" was pure non-sense, acceptable as truth only to those who, in their quest for material things, have ignored and hidden from the acts of our government toward non-Israeli middle-easterners for decades.

To begin with, cowards do not sacrifice their lives for causes in which they believe! To suggest that, is to dishonor the memory of the many American Metal of Honor winners, throughout our history, who sacrificed their lives for their comrades and their country! These Americans were certainly not cowards!

In their circles and belief, the 911 "terrorists" are not cowards; they are heroes who gave their lives to overcome the oppression of their enemies.

They certainly did not "hate us for our virtues", and it is highly doubtful that they "hate freedom and democracy"! How can the non-Israeli middle-easterners regard as "virtues" the continued nearly daily bombing of civilians (school children, hospitals, hotels, etc.) and the sanctioning of medical and humanitarian supplies that have caused the death of over 1.0 million civilians including over 500,000 children in Iraq since the Gulf War; the destruction of a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan that supplied the only medicines available to save the lives of half-a-million children in north Africa; the indiscriminate launching of around 24 cruise missiles that killed and maimed civilians in Afghanistan in December of 1998 (when Clinton was playing "Wag the Dog" to stop the impeachment proceedings); the killing of 1,187 innocent civilians (mostly women and children) in a Baghdad bomb shelter, a year after "Desert Storm", by Bush (the First) in an effort to assassinate Saddam Hussein; the murder of civilians in Libya in an attempt to assassinate Murimar Khadafy; the murder of thousands in Beirut and in the Lebanese refugee camps in 1982, which followed the murder, burning and destruction of 385 of 475 Palestinian villages by the Israelis' in 1948 (and since), using helicopter gunships, F16's, missiles, tanks and automatic weapons supplied by the United States government; and the many more non-virtuous acts of our government that can be recalled!

Love of our country is one thing, but condoning the acts of brutality of your leaders on essentially defenseless people is something else! And hiding behind the ignorance developed through a quest for material things, at the expense of true vigilance, is no excuse!

These "terrorists" don't hate our government for its "virtue", they hate it for what it has done to their lives! Unfortunately, they will hate us for allowing our government to conduct these acts of brutality against them!

There are many who will react to these comments with hatred for this writer. To those, we ask them to reflect on the words of Paul in Galatians 4:16, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

We need to "open our collective eyes to the causes of these events"; we need to remember and exercise the advise of our founding President, George Washington in his Farewell Address to the nation,

"Observe good faith and justice toward all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all ... to give to mankind the magnanimous and novel example of a People always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. ... Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue? ...

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little Political connection as possible."

Also, to be remembered, are the words of Thomas Jefferson in his First Inaugural Address,

"peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."

Jefferson was a man of few, but sound, words concisely organized (witness his work on Declaration of Independence)!

But George Washington didn't stop there! He elaborated as follows,

"In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded ... The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree ... a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which lead it astray from its duty and its interest. ...

Antipathy in one Nation against another disposes each ... [to] frequent collisions ... and bloody contests. ...

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils.

Sympathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the illusion of a common interest ... where no real common interest exists, and infusing into [our nation] the enmities of the [favourite], betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter... It leads also to concessions to the favourite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure [our] Nation ... by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate in [others]... and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favourite nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own country ... sometimes even with popularity.

How many opportunities do [such attachments] afford to tamper with domestic factions; to practise the arts of seduction; to mislead public opinion; to influence or awe the public council!...

The peace often, and sometimes the Liberty, of Nations has been the victim."

But today, we hear our Presidents' forming vast alliances in support of favored nations, and against their enemies, and acting in subservience to NATO and the UN, while ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own country!

As the song goes, "when will we ever learn"!

And how do our nation's leaders react to preventing internal threats from aliens? Do they stop illegal entry and drug smuggling at our borders and roundup illegal aliens already within? -- Not at all; they demand increased policing powers over all of our citizenry; they would use this opportunity to increase their power, while further reducing our freedom!

In this regard, we need to once more reflect upon the wise advice of our founders, who with God's help established our free society! We note that Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest of our founders, cautioned that,

"They who can give up essential liberty for a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety."

You will have noticed that there hasn't been any media comment as to why the terrorists attacked America. The question, which we answered above, is, however, the key to resolving the long-term problem. Interestingly, in the days following the attack, Peter Jennings on ABC TV, asked a group of children, of ages around 9-14 for there thoughts and feelings about the attack. Among the many answers, one child said, "Maybe we should find out why they are mad at us."

Perhaps, despite the dumbing-down program of our NEA controlled government schools, there is hope for our future generations! There are still young people asking, why?

The question, Why?, is the starting point for all political, scientific and human progress. Problems can not be solved until you've determined their cause!

By Gene Reed