Nine Eleven Thoughts

Try as I might, I cannot come up with a concise thought for today.

Yet I will try

Six years ago we in America experienced 9/11

I don't have words for what we felt that day.

It is only a feeling that is better expressed in ignoring words and realizing

That our nation's feeling that day is what ALL people feel when they are attacked in war

Our feeling was and is no more severe, no more special, no more deserving of retribution

Whoever or whatever forces perpetrated that day, the fact remains, our government

Used that day to instill fear through lies, taking of our civil liberties, and perpetrating a war

On a people who had not one thing to do with what had happened to us.

Our government tells us it was Bin Ladin

He is still at large

He is not occupying our country

Only our own choice to go to war

Occupies our nation's psyche

Others say it was evil forces within America who perpetrated 9/11

In order to justify a war and occupation

Whether they are right or wrong

The fact remains

America chose war and occupation

2,976 died as a result of 9/11

It is estimated up to one million have died as a result of the Iraq war

There are various estimates of those who have died in Afghanistan

Our own country does not keep count of the casualties in either country.

As of September 9: Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and EnduringFreedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. CentralCommand: 4167

These are all dead human beings, but American losses are because we chose to go to war

Our military is voluntary

On 9/11, our skies were blue and black

In Iraq, "shock and awe" left their skies blue and black

In Afghanistan, their skies were blue and black

We are now still occupying both countries

Our troops are still killing the citizens of both countries

Each day an Iraqi or Afghani looses his life due to the American invasion and occupation

Another home comes under a dark cloud

Our hearts, Iraqi and Afghani hearts are bruised

The dead no longer have beating hearts to feel

If I started counting today, when would I reach one million?

Many in the anti war movement tell us to support our troops

Yet Iraqis and Afghanis are terrorists if they "support" the troops fighting our occupation.

"Supporting troops" is diametrically opposed to seeking peace.

What would we do as Americans if another country chose

To attack and invade us and tell us their actions were justified

Because they knew what is best for us?

What would we say to those in that invading country who claim to be opposed to the occupation of ours

Said "We support our troops"

But end the war?

The only path to peace is to support those who refuse to fight, and refuse to fight ourselves.

To not support our troops in words or deeds

For without them, this war could not go on

Each of them is a tool of war

Bringing hate upon our own country

Each of them is a part, no matter how large or small

Of America's imperialism

Why do we as Americans who seek an end to this war

Not demand that our troops stop participating?

What kind of anti-war movement is this?

One with no convictions or courage?

Iraq belongs to Iraqis

Afghanistan belongs to Afghanis

Not to America

We must all lay down the gauntlet of hatred and understand

That others bleed and feel as we do ourselves

That as human beings

The only path to peace

Is to reach out in understanding that we are all one on this planet our creator has placed us on

In order to survive and honor our own dead from 9/11

Our nation must stop killing and occupying others.

No matter what reason we are given to do so.

Please know that when you read my words

They are but the tip of the iceberg

For what lies beneath the surface

The belief that none of us

Have been given life

Or are deserving of

Dying or being occupied at the hands of another.

This video is set to the song "Blue and Black" by Jackson Brown. The maker (not Jackson Brown) chose this song because he said he wanted to capture his feelings of that day, 9/11.

Everyday that we occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a dark blue and black sky over THEIR heads. Please realize that all the emotions we felt as individuals and as a nation, they have felt and more, their entire countries have been torn assunder.

For every single person who has lost a loved one in 9/11 or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I humbly send my thoughts and prayers.

And for all Americans, I ask that you stop supporting these wars in all of your words and deeds by supporting those who are refusing to kill and occupy another.







From Desert Peace Blog:

HATRED ... 6 YEARS LATER

Six years ago tragedy struck the people of the United States. For the first time in their history as a nation there was an attack on their soil. To this day the actual culprit has not been caught. Those that are being blamed for the actual event are not necessarily the same forces that actually carried out this deed of horror. One day the truth will come out for all to see, as will the truth about the Kennedy assassination. There are way too many unanswered questions regarding American tragedies.. way too many.
The culprit in both cases is hatred. Hatred of a system, hatred of a people. What are the roots of such intense hatred that the slaughter of thousands of innocent people was the result? At this point in history I do not see the need to actually 'catch' the alleged guilty culprits, but rather to determine why it was done.
The United States has done things over the past decades to make many a nation look at them with suspicion, even hatred. The documented crimes against the people of the Congo, Japan, Ghana, Guyana, Cuba, Chile, Viet Nam, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, the list is endless, gives many a nation a motive. To say it was any one in particular would be wrong and would not accomplish a thing. Sadaam was blamed, Bin-Laden was blamed, both had a motive... but did they do it? I personally have great doubts.
What I do know is that hatred is an evil force that has to be erased from the face of the earth. The seeds of hatred that are continuing to be sown by the Bush Administration have to be destroyed before they sprout.
The world must come together as one race, the human race. We must learn about each other, we must learn to trust each other. Only then will we achieve world peace. Only then will there be a hope that hatred will die out and become a relic of the past.
Only then will there be a guarantee that horrors, such as those of September 11th, 2001, will never happen again anywhere.
We have to start the process NOW.... before it is too late.

Here you can find a listing of the innocent victims of the horror of September 11th, 2001. May they rest in peace in a world at peace. May their families find comfort in the fact that their loss was a loss for all mankind... they are not alone.

You are invited to read what my son the CrazyComposer posted here...

To read a Palestinians view of the events, click here
to see an article by Azmi Bishara.

The Hole in the City’s Heart

The above post appeared here one year ago as well.... nothing has changed