The horror is no less palpable today than it was last year or ten years ago. The specifics may have blurred with the passage of time, but not the pain, the despair, the trauma of the birth of a new and different way of thinking about life.
The 10-year anniversary of 9/11 brings a torrent of emotion, and try as I might, none of those emotions can be called positive.
I grieve for the loss of a country with a future. Hegemonic or not, there was at least a semblance of humanity in the pre 9/11/01 days, and that is sorely missing today. For this reason alone, al Qaeda has succeeding in bringing ruin to the greatest country on earth. Sadly lacking in leadership, this country – and its peoples – have sunk into a barbarism, a marked regression into savage self interest that can only lead to an implosion and destruction on the scale that makes the attack of 9/11 minor in comparison. Yes, al Qaeda succeeded. al Qaeda won. One act of terrorism, not a war but just one act, resulted in financial and political ruin.
The huge, gaping wound still lies open and seeping. The site of the attack is still a construction zone ten years later. Those that gave their all in the aftermath to help are denied recognition for the price they are still paying for their selfless courage on that day. Like the veterans that served in a war fought only for the protection of profit, the heroes walk the streets of their living nightmare, alone and forsaken. The military veterans and first responders gave all and are given nothing in return, a nothing in the shape of antimatter creating a gaping hole in the country’s humanity.
The natural way of things, Mother Nature herself has worked hard this year to slap some sense back into the peoples irritating her surface. Earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes buffet and batter the millions who have regressed so fully into self-aggrandizing pity and greed. With the maturity level of a mass of junior high school children caught up in a St. Vitus’ Dance, politicians, those chosen by the people to lead, drown in squabbles and skirmishes with themselves, too caught up in their drama to do their jobs. They ignore natural disasters as much as they ignore each other, and the downward spiral continues unabated. Yes, al Qaeda succeeded. It is far more important to secure oil than it is to secure humanity.
I’ve had to write “9/11” a thousand times this week, each time felt like yet another pound of salt poured into the gaping wound. Still, ten years later, the wound seeps, aches and throbs. Instead of healing is infection, cancer, physical and emotional dysfunction. I almost envy those who lost their lives and were spared the total destruction of this grand country. The pain is palpable, traumatic and never ending.
We cannot forget. We will not forget. There is no way to forget when healing has yet to begin. Countless lives were lost that day and countless lives continue to be lost in its aftermath.
