story8531.xml
Title
story8531.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-10-21
911DA Story: Story
As a homegrown American I have had a very difficult time dealing with the events of September eleventh. One way I have coped is by trying to find some understanding in this mess.
It seems that most Americans have chosen to believe that the hijackers were brainwashed radical religious fundamentalist terrorists that hated Americans. After all the media has not labeled them anything but terrorists for more than a year now. We get terror alerts, are updated on the war on terror, see terror bills signed, look for terrorist cells, find out terrorist this, talk about terrorist that, and have the opportunity to watch news shows called ?The WAR on TERROR the HUNT for the KILLERS!? It is no wonder most Americans think the events of September eleventh were acted out to provoke terror. They did kill more than 3000 people and disable a major transportation network! So we proclaim them terrorists and we fight to stop them.
But can we think beyond this one scenario?
Another way to understand this situation is by trying to understand the hijackers themselves and their cause. It is difficult to understand people who have killed themselves and thousands of others for a cause, but it is important to try and find out why all this happened.
Let?s look at the facts, 4 planes, 2 towers, the Pentagon and almost the US capital. This translates as 4 bombs; two aimed at capitalism, one at US defense, and one at the US government. This is an obvious form of communication by Bin Laden and the hijackers, compounded with serious action against the United States, but it was not meant to be an attack against US citizens. After all it would have been easy to poison portions of the American food and or water supplies, hit nuclear power plants or dams, or to fly a plane into the Sears tower. Any of these actions would have been deemed an attack against American citizens or an act of terror, but these did not happen.
The hijackers where not interested in killing innocent Americans. They were interested in communicating and were willing to pay the ultimate price for a cause they believed in which was to change how capitalism, US defense, and the US government controls many situations in the world. Unfortunately many of the individuals that worked in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were integral parts of the entities that were being attacked.
Another reason I have a hard time categorizing the hijackers as terrorists, is because if this is true then all our friends and loved ones that died on September eleventh will have died in vain. As terrorist victims they unknowing gave there lives for nothing other than to be murdered by madmen.
But this does not have to be the truth. These 3000 plus humans should be viewed as heroes, as true martyrs. Heroes whose sudden deaths helped changed the world for the better by having the United States and the world grow in understanding and act accordingly so the hatred and resentment toward America can be minimized therefore preventing, the need for more of these outrageous and painful acts.
But now we come to the question. Did America really deserve what happened on September eleventh?
70-80 percent of people polled, in England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, South America and even Canada believed that the US had it coming. This worldview should be enough to make all Americans think and consider deeply the actions of our nation before transforming ourselves into instant patriots. Our nations actions and our tax dollars provoked the events of September eleventh and this is something I am not proud of.
We must listen to the world and try to behave in ways that will not make us such a deserving target. We know now this is an issue of national security.
An attack on Iraq will generate even more world hatred for the United States and guarantee future attacks against the US.
We shouldn?t be using our military might to remove governments and replace them with ones that will submit easier to the needs of our oil addiction while using the excuse that some madman might have weapons of mass destruction.
The truth is our nation?s oil addiction is the most massive weapon of mass destruction. Global warming is here and will get worse in the decades to come. Most of our world has acknowledged the need to act immediately by signing the Kyoto treaty, but the United States has not.
The United States is now aiming the ultimate weapon of mass destruction at the entire world and it is only a matter of time until the world aims back.
As Americans we must remember that our tax dollars are the fuel for our nation?s power and one real way to weaken the power of the United States is to destroy tax-paying Americans.
Less Americans alive = less Americans paying taxes = less money funding the US military.
Since the United States continues to behave in ways the rest of the world finds globally irresponsible American citizens are in serious danger.
If the desire to weaken the United States exists then America and Americans are more likely to be attacked. As a nation we need to transform this desire by behaving differently. We need to listen, understand, and behave accordingly as a world partner before it is too late for America.
It seems that most Americans have chosen to believe that the hijackers were brainwashed radical religious fundamentalist terrorists that hated Americans. After all the media has not labeled them anything but terrorists for more than a year now. We get terror alerts, are updated on the war on terror, see terror bills signed, look for terrorist cells, find out terrorist this, talk about terrorist that, and have the opportunity to watch news shows called ?The WAR on TERROR the HUNT for the KILLERS!? It is no wonder most Americans think the events of September eleventh were acted out to provoke terror. They did kill more than 3000 people and disable a major transportation network! So we proclaim them terrorists and we fight to stop them.
But can we think beyond this one scenario?
Another way to understand this situation is by trying to understand the hijackers themselves and their cause. It is difficult to understand people who have killed themselves and thousands of others for a cause, but it is important to try and find out why all this happened.
Let?s look at the facts, 4 planes, 2 towers, the Pentagon and almost the US capital. This translates as 4 bombs; two aimed at capitalism, one at US defense, and one at the US government. This is an obvious form of communication by Bin Laden and the hijackers, compounded with serious action against the United States, but it was not meant to be an attack against US citizens. After all it would have been easy to poison portions of the American food and or water supplies, hit nuclear power plants or dams, or to fly a plane into the Sears tower. Any of these actions would have been deemed an attack against American citizens or an act of terror, but these did not happen.
The hijackers where not interested in killing innocent Americans. They were interested in communicating and were willing to pay the ultimate price for a cause they believed in which was to change how capitalism, US defense, and the US government controls many situations in the world. Unfortunately many of the individuals that worked in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were integral parts of the entities that were being attacked.
Another reason I have a hard time categorizing the hijackers as terrorists, is because if this is true then all our friends and loved ones that died on September eleventh will have died in vain. As terrorist victims they unknowing gave there lives for nothing other than to be murdered by madmen.
But this does not have to be the truth. These 3000 plus humans should be viewed as heroes, as true martyrs. Heroes whose sudden deaths helped changed the world for the better by having the United States and the world grow in understanding and act accordingly so the hatred and resentment toward America can be minimized therefore preventing, the need for more of these outrageous and painful acts.
But now we come to the question. Did America really deserve what happened on September eleventh?
70-80 percent of people polled, in England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, South America and even Canada believed that the US had it coming. This worldview should be enough to make all Americans think and consider deeply the actions of our nation before transforming ourselves into instant patriots. Our nations actions and our tax dollars provoked the events of September eleventh and this is something I am not proud of.
We must listen to the world and try to behave in ways that will not make us such a deserving target. We know now this is an issue of national security.
An attack on Iraq will generate even more world hatred for the United States and guarantee future attacks against the US.
We shouldn?t be using our military might to remove governments and replace them with ones that will submit easier to the needs of our oil addiction while using the excuse that some madman might have weapons of mass destruction.
The truth is our nation?s oil addiction is the most massive weapon of mass destruction. Global warming is here and will get worse in the decades to come. Most of our world has acknowledged the need to act immediately by signing the Kyoto treaty, but the United States has not.
The United States is now aiming the ultimate weapon of mass destruction at the entire world and it is only a matter of time until the world aims back.
As Americans we must remember that our tax dollars are the fuel for our nation?s power and one real way to weaken the power of the United States is to destroy tax-paying Americans.
Less Americans alive = less Americans paying taxes = less money funding the US military.
Since the United States continues to behave in ways the rest of the world finds globally irresponsible American citizens are in serious danger.
If the desire to weaken the United States exists then America and Americans are more likely to be attacked. As a nation we need to transform this desire by behaving differently. We need to listen, understand, and behave accordingly as a world partner before it is too late for America.
Collection
Citation
“story8531.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 16, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/17468.