September 11 Digital Archive

tp16.xml

Title

tp16.xml

Source

born-digital

Media Type

story

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2003-02-24

TomPaine Story: Story

Dear Editor:

A year after the events of last September 11 we are all still trying to make sense of the attack and what has happened since. We abhor the events of that dreadful day, but the aftermath has left us far from united.

1. Osama Bin Laden, the man supposedly responsible for the attack (although the evidence against him might not stand up in an unbiased court) has eluded capture. So has most of his Al Qaeda network

2. The United States has toppled the Taliban ""government"" of Afghanistan and replaced it with a bunch of warlords only marginally better (to make the most charitable judgment). The fact that no Afghan was among the terrorists seems not to have mattered in American destruction of the country. However, in Saudi Arabia, where many of the terrorists originated, it is oil business as usual with America gobbling up the liquid gold and overlooking that nation's repressive government.

3. The Bush administration has gone underground, making almost every government action a war secret. This has hidden decisions from public view and stifled opposition.

4. The Democratic Party, which should play an opposition role or at least fight for more public information, has rolled over and apparently died.

5. Of the hundreds of suspects rounded up by the government none has been found guilty of terrorism. Nevertheless the prisoners' access to lawyers and American justice is almost nil.

6. The ""war"" has become an excuse for an all-out assault on the environment and is being used as a way to reward the wealthy and big business.

Is this any way to fight a war? It seems to me that we are losing on all fronts and yet we seem to be facing yet another Bush adventure into conflict, this time with few if any allies. Will that have any better result than the present war on terrorism? Nothing that has happened in the past year leads me to think so.

Citation

“tp16.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/596.