We have forgotten 9/11 (updated)

George Rebane

Until we understand and address the role of the swamp, swatting individual mosquitoes will not reduce our suffering.

On 11 September 2001 we as a country vowed that we would never forget what happened on that day which took the lives of almost 3,000 innocent Americans.  Since then, we have built a magnificent Ground Zero monument and museum, and in somber ceremonies called out the names of our murdered country men and women.  But the tragedy more often than not has been observed as an act of God, similar to our remembrance of the devastation of Katrina.

During these observances someone will utter a brief reference to the ‘terrorists’ who flew those passenger airliners into buildings and into a field in Pennsylvania.  At best these faceless terrorists are also glossed over as having no further identity, ideology, and purpose than did Katrina.  We focus all our attention on the killed and their grieving survivors.

But many more than 3,000 Americans die every day, and no national memorials are held for them.  No one asks any longer what made these 9/11 deaths special, and why that date, as another one in our history, will live in infamy.  When we were still a proud country and suffered a great blow on 7 December 1941, we didn’t memorialize our fallen as some inevitable victims of a natural disaster.  We made it clear that everyone down to our kindergarteners knew that it was Imperial Japan, with leaders like Tojo and Yamamoto, that had perpetrated and carried out that dastardly attack.  And even though Japan is no longer a warmongering empire, we still remember who attacked us on that day of infamy, and how we as a country responded to that outrage.

This is not the case with 9/11 that we now briefly identify as having been caused by some band of vanilla terrorists of indifferent provenance.  Today during these hallowed observances we cannot even mention  that it was fundamentalist Islam that motivated, assembled, trained, and set loose the self-sacrificing killers.  And that fundamental Islam has not deviated a whit from its greater goal to subvert the globe to its merciless credo, proving its unflagging zeal by continuing to send an unending stream of Islamist terrorists to maim and murder in the west.

In response, our progressive and woke leadership cringes at even the thought of identifying the terrorists’ creed.  We even take down Old Glory from classroom walls if a Muslim student expresses ‘discomfort’ with that flag for which so many have sacrificed.  We continue mumbling that Islam is still a “religion of peace”, ignoring the wholesale global support by Muslims of anti-western terror as an acceptable tool to bring about their new world order.  And in response, we have turned on ourselves by quietly accepting the leftists in our government who have fabricated the lie that white supremacists make up the greatest terror threat America faces.

There is no doubt that twenty years on, we as a nation have forgotten what really happened on 9/11.

[update]  RL Crabb, our celebrated cartoonist who is also on the editorial board of The Union, is a local leading intellectual light in the cadre of our calcified cohort of collectivists.  His cartoon in today’s 11sep21 issue of the newspaper (below) underlines the point that I am making in the above commentary.  As a collectivist, for him 9/11 was just another tragedy of lives lost to an event perpetrated by some inscrutable terrorists of indifferent origin who no longer deserve recognition, let alone mention.  Most students of geo-politics and Islamic affairs find nothing inscrutable about the 9/11 terrorists and are anything but indifferent as to their origin.  Fundamentalist Islam is the geo-political plague of our times and as such has been endemic for decades.  And so it will continue to be as long as our progressive thought leaders, who are also masters of our media, deem this scourge as just another act of nature to be dealt only with a general trepidation and ill-directed preparations which must neither address nor insult its source.  These leftists wish us to focus only on those whom they designate as “rightwing domestic terrorists”, their paramount threat to our republic.

A fruitful read on the entire matter of global Islamism is ‘The War on Terror Shifts to ‘Brainistan’’ by Tawfik Hamid, an American physician who in his younger years was himself an indoctrinated jihadist ready to martyr himself attacking the west.  He presents the case that “The West needs a better system for identifying radical Islamists and cutting out the religious underpinnings of jihad.”  Ignoring the ideological origins of 9/11 is not part of such a better system.  More such sentiments are presented today in essays such as 'Purposeful Forgetfulness' by Pedro Gonzales, associate editor of Chronicles, who argues that "Americans have been encouraged to forget about 9/11 and to focus on the enemy within."

Comments

[rlcrabb]

Yeah, but who's going to win the big fight tonight? Chances are, Trump will claim it was rigged and the loser actually won.
https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/32167639/donald-trump-son-provide-commentary-evander-holyfield-vitor-belfort-alternate-telecast

[Gregory]

Still dabbling in the imaginary and humorless Dark Side of the Farce, rl?

[Gregory]

Three words missing from all of the 9/11 op-eds I've read today... SEAL Team Six.

[George Rebane]

rl 743am - Your non-sequitur comment did remind me of your cartoon in this morning's paper, and motivated the above update. Thank you for illustrating my point.

[Paul Emery]

George

When Bush got us into Afganistatan he started the spending of 2.3 Trillion dollars and thousands of Amerian lives and 20 years of occupation for what? Was Afghanistan worth it George and Can you share your ideas about what we should have done instead?

[Barry Pruett]

Why don’t you tell us what you would have done differently Paul? This should be interesting.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1038am - Paul, you solicit another fruitless response from me. I have spent the last 14 years in these pages outlining precisely how the US should respond to developing geo-political threats and perpetrated attacks. (You apparently neither read nor, perhaps, understand these.) The details derive from Kennan's 1946 'Long Telegram' that outlined our country's perennial strategy for dealing with a world populated by bad actors with totalitarian ideologies. Your Democratic Party has now joined this throng, and has become America's existential endogenous enemy.

[Gregory]

How many times have we endured such attacks in the past 20 years, punch?

I recall at the time, the idea that there'd be no follow-on attacks in 20 years was unthinkable.

Bush didn't "get us into Afghanistan", Paul. OBL did.

[Walt]

Good job siding with the terrorists Emery. I guess you would prefer us fighting them here in our own streets than taking the fight to them.
They will hit us again the second they get the chance. And with your dear leader standing in as a Pres. that will surely happen. Notice no terror attacks while Trump was in office?

Now take a glance at what the British did today.
https://dailycaller.com/2021/09/11/buckingham-palace-changing-of-the-guard-features-u-s-national-anthem-9-11/

[Barry Pruett]

Paul wouldn’t have done anything differently. He is gonna ask questions and not answer any. Troll.

[Roscoe]

Not even a hat tip to our home grown terrorists who have nothing to do with Islam and most everything to do with right wing beliefs.

Typical one sided rant from the bald fossil on the hill that is based on transparently ignorant statements such as "During these observances someone will utter a brief reference to the ‘terrorists’ who flew those passenger airliners into buildings ".

I dare you to mention how many times the word terrorist was mentioned in the speeches from our current and previous presidents today. It is some figment of your imagination to claim that no one remembers and that no one talks about the terrorists.

[Gregory]

9/11
1/6

There is NO comparison whatsoever, "Roscoe". Not a terrorist action. Bison Boi didn't even bring a boxcutter.

Why not deposit that remark at Pellini's? He hasn't gotten out of bed yet.

[Walt]

A TROLL yaps up.. Imagine that. Makes accusations with nothing to back it up. Where did the pressure cooker bombers hail from?
You have the ANTIFA terrorists, A-HOLE. As home grown as they get.
99% of mass killers are Lefties. Or do you subscribe to the Emery math skills? 1 righty out numbers 15 Commiecrats?

[George Rebane]

Re Roscoe 1248pm - Here's Exhibit A to the mental acuity of leftists. He has not understood a word of my commentary nor of the citations therein. For him and his'n one terrorist is just like another, and there was nothing extraordinary or distinguishing about the 9/11 terrorists.

[Bill Tozer]

'What Those Who Sacrificed For 9/11 Deserve From Americans Now'

We have been a decadent, woke, rump kowtower to a gulag state. Instead, we must be America again — cultivating excellence, instilling confidence, and creating patriots

https://thefederalist.com/2021/09/10/what-those-who-sacrificed-for-9-11-deserve-from-americans-now/

[Don Bessee]

The socialist up north lectures on islamophobia on this day of all -

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau chose to stress the impact of 9/11 on Muslims and call for people to stand against “Islamophobia”, rather than radical Islam, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/09/11/watch-trudeau-stresses-islamophobia-impact-muslims-of-9-11/

;-)

[Don Bessee]

Creepy grampa joe has the taliban laughing their asses off -

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/09/11/kemp-biden-trying-to-distract-from-border-afghanistan-inflation-talking-tougher-to-governors-than-taliban/

;-)

[Walt]

Biden has created his very own pile of 9/11 rubble to stand on.
Our nations credibility around the world.

[Bill Tozer]

Exhibit B

‘Syracuse Professor Trashes 9/11 Commentary, Says It Was An Attack on ‘Heteropatriarchal Capitalistic Systems’ Preferred By White Americans’

https://www.dailywire.com/news/syracuse-professor-trashes-9-11-commentary-says-it-was-an-attack-on-heteropatriarchal-capitalistic-systems-preferred-by-white-america—————————————————-
Exhibit C

Failed Democratic Candidate Claims January 6 Worse Than 9/11: ‘It’s Not Even Close’

https://www.dailywire.com/news/failed-democratic-candidate-claims-january-6-worse-than-9-11-its-not-even-close
—————————————
‘The 9/11 Attacks Ultimately Proved A Lesser Threat To America Than The Totalitarian Left’
The left hates America and ordinary Americans at least as much as the 9/11 hijackers did, and for some of the same reasons

https://thefederalist.com/2021/09/10/the-9-11-attacks-have-proved-less-a-threat-to-america-than-the-totalitarian-left/
————————————
Enough of the Left and their perpetual hatred of America. Chants of ‘USA, USA, USA!’ are the proverbial fingernails on the blackboard to them, 24/7. Drives Steve and Roberta Cross up the wall and their like minded despicable creatures. They hate that sound of USA. But, on this day, I will strive to remember this is a Day of Remembrance and leave the odious ones behind.

‘WATCH: Entire Army Football Team Runs Onto Field Carrying American Flags’

https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-entire-army-football-team-runs-onto-field-carrying-american-flags

[Bill Tozer]

‘Would You Have Stormed The Cockpit?’

As we near another anniversary of that dark September day, don't just remember the heroes of Flight 93. Strive to be like them.

https://thefederalist.com/2021/09/10/would-you-have-stormed-the-cockpit/

[Gregory]

"Biden has created his very own pile of 9/11 rubble to stand on. Our nations credibility around the world."

very poetic, Walt. nicely done.

[Walt]

Gregory.. Get the Crabb man to draw that picture.
Biden with a bullhorn " This is how we build back better!"

[Paul Emery]

BArry

I would have kept the other airport open and some escaoe outposts for the few Americans that were stranded. There are still a few Americans out there but many actually want to stay. All in all only 13 casualties for such a huge evacuation is pretty amazing. Biden is an American hero that finally pulled up out of the biggest military embarassment in history, something Trum promised to do but never did-like everything else he promised. Biden is not responsible for the thousands of America deaths and trillions of dollars of debt caused by our misguided fiasco over there because he wasn't President at the time. Who do you find responsible for that Barry?

It's such a relief we're out of there. We were such chumps. The fake Afgan government had it planned to bail as soon as we pulled out and never intended to defend the country. Not a word from Amrullah Saleh who skipped the country with untold millions or billions of dollars. It was all a scam from the start and we were suckers. Isama Bin Laden succeeded beyond his wildest expectations in defeating this country.

[Paul Emery]

sp escape outposts

[Walt]

Keep rooting for the terrorists Emery.
Your Biden lost a won war in meer days.

[Gregory]

"Biden is an American hero"
-punchy

There's no sane response to such insanity.

[Bill Tozer]

On this day

'What Made Them Do Their Duty?'
At the Twin Towers, cops and firemen showed they really were New York’s Finest, New York’s Bravest.
Victor Davis Hanson
Autumn 2001

https://www.city-journal.org/html/what-made-them-do-their-duty-12200.html

[Paul Emery]

Who got us in the war Walt?

[Walt]

Piss off Emery, If you can't figure it out by now your as brain damaged as Biden.

My Son signed up 20 years ago tomorrow to fight these bastards.
The spent the next 15 doing just that.

Your nothing more than a standard issue LIB pussy.

[Don Bessee]

Osama Bin Laden @442 #sadoldfool

;-)

[Jose Peyote]

Why did you support the 'Good War' Paul?

[Walt]

Those airplanes were the terrorists "Trojan horse".
No wonder Emery sides with them. It was the Greeks who thought of it first.

[Paul Emery]

Who got us in the war Walt and who was responsible for us being there 20 years?

[Walt]

What? Emery wants an answer? He who never answers? 🤣 🖕!
Now why don't you google that O buzzard of Broad St.

Now why don't you ask the rag heads who flew the planes into the buildings. Oh.. How bout the ring leaders that are about to go on trial at GITMO?

It was your boy "O" who traded a traitor for terrorist commanders. Great trade,,, right Emery?

[Don Bessee]

This is like something we would see from the ponytail of ignorance -

https://www.foxnews.com/media/brian-stelter-gets-ratiod-for-tweet-claiming-national-leaders-were-in-the-bunker-on-9-11

;-)

[Walt]

Here ya' go Emery, ENJOY!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su2fZjZvb5s
The tune inspired by your friends.

[Walt]

No?? How bout this one?
"The Taliban song"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su2fZjZvb5s

[George Rebane]

re PaulE 419pm - People like Paul are naive beyond comprehension if they think that our 13 military killed are the only casualties of the precipitous surrender of Afghanistan to the Taliban. The killing has begun and has yet to be tallied. It will also include many of our military casualties who will wonder for what they will sacrifice life and limb.

None on the left remember what invited WW2 when the west's leading democracies believed the bullshit about 'the war to end all wars' and stripped down their militaries to troop levels exceeded by their countries' Boy Scouts.

[Walt]

Look at it this way Emery, us country boys really love this nation and will fight to keep it. Unlike you Lib hippie bastards the will play peacenik and surrender like the cowards you are. You don't get peace with kicking ass and taking names in war.

[Barry Pruett]

I’m not asking what you would have done about getting out of Afghanistan. I’m asking you what you would have done differently after 9/11?

[Don Bessee]

Ya good luck with that @549

;-)

[Walt]

Well Barry,, Emery would have just apologized.
Paid them big bucks, and maybe even given them New Mexico.

[Walt]

Get a bucket before reading. It's enough to make one puke.
Except for Emery.. It's porn to him.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/11/joe-biden-demand-uniform-support-for-diversity/

[Don Bessee]

The rumor is that creepy grampa joe had to do 28 takes of the recorded message because he kept asking is it time for my pudding cup? @617 LOL

;-)

[Bill Tozer]

'9/11 Was ‘Permanently Shocking’ But Failed To Shatter the West'

Beware of What FDR Called the ‘ism’ of Appeasement

https://www.nysun.com/foreign/9-11-was-permanently-shocking-but-failed/91651/

[Don Bessee]

Creepy grampa joes team calls the taliban business like and professional. REALLY?!?!?!

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/taliban-lying-frances-foreign-minister-220903073.html

;-)

[Walt]

Good news for Emery. Bush has joined the dark side with him.
https://www.independentsentinel.com/bush-on-9-11-claims-trump-supporters-have-foul-spirit-of-terrorists/

[Gregory]

That's just W carrying a torch for bro 'Jeb!'. You remember, "Low energy Jeb"?

[Paul Emery]

Well Barry for sure I wouldn't have spent nearly 3 Trillion dollars, had thousands of American casualties and stayed for 20 years. We went after Bin Laden. He promptly split the country and it took Obama to finally track him down years later. Do you think we should have stayed longer in Afghanistan than we did? George is of the mind that we should have American military indefinably in many places in the world which I oppose completely.

[Barry Pruett]

What would you have done differently?

[Walt]

Buzz off Emery, forget we are still at war in Korea?
Have an excuse there?

[Walt]

Remember Emery? The Revolutionary was "unjust" in your opinion too. Ever get tired of being wrong?

[Paul Emery]

It depends on what our goal was Barry. What started out as an action against Bin Laden ended up being a futile attempt at nation building in a country THAT basically didn't want us there just like Iraq.

Here's what Ron Paul, a Libertarian, had to say about the situation years ago.

"The question we're facing today is should we leave Afghanistan? I think the answer is very clear and it's not complicated, that of course we should. As soon as we can," he said. "This suggests that we can leave by the end of the year. If we don't, we'll be there for another decade would be my prediction."

On leaving, he said: "The large majority of the American people now say it's time to get out of Afghanistan. It's a fruitless venture, too much has been lost, the chance of winning, since we don't even know what we're going to win, doesn't exist."

Later in his speech, he spoke against the "perpetual occupation of a country."

"We can't change Afghanistan," he said. "Even if you could, you're not supposed to. You don't have the moral authority, you don't have the constitutional authority."

https://www.newsweek.com/ron-paul-was-right-reps-decade-old-afghanistan-remarks-resurface-amid-crisis-1619725

[Walt]

Sure Emery,, and Ron Paul is slapping Biden around on the Twitt shop. Good thing your a nobody in Nevada City and not defending the nation. We would be forced to speak Mandarin by now.

Nope,, you never get tired of being wrong.

[Don Bessee]

Talk about a lame ass dodge @901 , its about the how and you are not man enough to admit that the Trump plan was viable and they kept the lid on with just a couple thousand troops but with air power.

The POS's in creepy grampa joes admin are despicable cowards as well as liars like you. Cue measure W and i throw the measure S card.

#sadoldman

;-)

[Jose Peyote’s Amce Anvil]

“George is of the mind that we should have American military indefinably in many places in the world which I oppose completely.”

Posted by: Paul Emery | 11 September 2021 at 08:34 PM

I recall Paul empty very upset when we pulled troops that were helping his female Kurdish fighters he donated his money to. Had quite the temper tantrum. Imagine Trump wanting to pull troops out of eastern Syria. No use to keep them there after he decimated ISIS and ISIL from Iraq and Syria in just four weeks.

Trump used real generals, not Biden’s TV generals or the one hundred generals that Obama fired.

[Walt]

To think our troops (including my Son) go into harms way to protect ungrateful cowards like Emery.
You picked a real fine day to be a war protester. The bastards had it coming Emery. You go to Afghanistan and do your apologies. They will walk you into a trench blindfolded and put a bullet in you head before the day is out.

[Bill Tozer]

Seems nobody is talking about Islamic terrorists. It is 9/11 after all. .

‘Backgrounder: 9/11 and Radical Islam’

https://www.meforum.org/62634/backgrounder-9-11-and-radical-islam

[Don Bessee]

A relative to the ponytail of ignorance, well at least fellow travelers -

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/student-senator-caught-on-video-taking-down-and-throwing-away-flags-at-9-11-memorial

;-)

[Walt]

Don,, someone should have made him put them all back.

[Walt]

I have an answer
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/11/donald-trump-shames-joe-biden-wonder-why-he-didnt-speak-9-11-anniversary/

ONE,,No one wanted to hear him.
TWO,, his handlers knew he couldn't keep it together.

[Gregory]

Three, he didn't have anything to say.

[Walt]

Yup, I'm not the only one who things Bush joined the dark side.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/12/outrage-george-w-bush-9-11-speech-attacking-american-extremists-americans-new-terrorists/

[Gregory]

W was always a 'Never Trumper', Walt.

[Walt]

Gregory,,, no surprise there.
Yup, Trump made him look real bad.
Trump did everything Bush promised to do, and never did.

[scenes]

Gregory: 'That's just W carrying a torch for bro 'Jeb!'. You remember, "Low energy Jeb"?'

In the distant future, after the disaster at the Europa base and the first mission to Proxima b, some time in the reign of Trump VI, this will be the only remaining record of Jeb!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWhi_JXos60

[scenes]

""Biden is an American hero"
-punchy

There's no sane response to such insanity.
-Gregory"

At least the two of them have similar cognitive skills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hhzqNLvQxg

[Scott O]

scenes 8:30 - You know that Paul will simply dismiss that as a 'doctored' video.
If you think Biden as POTUS is frightening, consider all the people without the excuse of senility that think Joe's doing a great job.