Remember

“We became the radical Islamist movement's most effective recruiting tool. We descended to its barbarity. We became terrorists too.” –Chris Hedges “A Decade After 9/11: We Are What We Loathe”

It’s the ten-year anniversary of the the horror of 9-11 and our federal government wants to be sure we remember.

World Trade Center September 11, 2001

But our federal government also wants to be sure we forget.

 

Victim of US Bombing

Our rulers want us to remember thousands dying in NYC, but hope we’ll forget our own federal government killing hundreds of thousands of innocents in Iraq with an embargo, thousands more in Iraq and Afghanistan with bombs and invading troops, hundreds of civilians in Libya (video) with bombs, and hundreds more in Yemen and Pakistan with unmanned drones.

Selective Memory

"There's a picture of the World Trade Centre hanging up by my bed and I keep one in my flak jacket. Every time I feel sorry for these people I look at that. I think, 'They hit us at home and, now, it's our turn.' I don't want to say payback but, you know, it's pretty much payback." –Spec. Michael Richardson, on duty with U.S. forces in Iraq

"Oh my God, they killed my kids...God may take revenge on them. They took everyone from me.” –Ata Mohammad, 60

Our rulers want us to remember the horror of 9-11.  They’re hoping you’ll think like Michael Richardson and Ata Mohammed, but ignore the fact that the US government killed Mohammad’s children.  Our leaders want us to support or at least forget:

• the un-Constitutional US invasion of Afghanistan, purportedly because the Taliban refused to extradite a former ally of the US against the USSR (video) [1][2]
• the un-Constitutional pre-emptive invasion of Iraq over a lie about WMD against a former ally of the US against Iran
• drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen
• torturing prisoners in Abu Ghraib
• a concentration camp in Guantanamo
• the gruesome horror of war and what it does to innocent children who happen to be Moslems.

At home, our leaders want to keep us fearful so they can justify:

• unlawful imprisonment, torture, and abuse of American citizens by the federal government [3]
• extraordinary rendition of American citizens [4]
• the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): a bureaucracy of 22 agencies and nearly 200,000 employees, including the TSA, headed by Big Sis, that treats all Americans like criminals
• the USA PATRIOT Act, its continuing extension by Congress, and secret interpretations of the law by our government that citizens are not allowed to know about [5]
• the REAL ID Act requiring a national ID
• treating Americans like criminals to the point where travelers get their genitals groped at the airport
• requiring you to carry your papers when you travel
• roving bands of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) who can rifle your bags at any time while you’re in an airport
• warrantless tracking of cell phones [6][7]
• banks, employers, and stores collecting even more information from, and about you, and reporting to the federal government
• the TSA checking you before you get on the bus or train.[8]

When America Was Freer

Our rulers want us to forget life before 9-11, a time when the federal government wouldn’t even consider doing what it now does with impunity.  Remember before 9-11:

• “Your papers please” was always said with a German accent in WWII movies as a reminder of the horrors of the militarism of Nazi Germany
• Torture was what the bad guys did.
• Spying on neighbors was something Hitler Youth did in Nazi Germany
• Your Fourth Amendment right to be secure in your person was still protected
• The federal government couldn’t listen in on your phone conversations without a warrant.
• The touching of a a child’s private parts by anyone but a licensed and practicing physician would have resulted in a punch to that person’s face by anyone within striking distance. 

Freedom Isn’t Free

“There would soon, however, be another reaction. Those of us who were close to the epicenters of the 9/11 attacks would primarily grieve and mourn. Those who had some distance would indulge in the growing nationalist cant and calls for blood that would soon triumph over reason and sanity. Nationalism was a disease I knew intimately as a war correspondent. It is anti-thought. It is primarily about self-exaltation. The flip side of nationalism is always racism, the dehumanization of the enemy and all who appear to question the cause.”  –Chris Hedges “A Decade After 9/11: We Are What We Loathe”

Gung ho supporters of the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan love the “freedom isn’t free” slogan and its implication that someone else has paid for our liberty with their lives.  The slogan is not only ironic, but misguided.  US government soldiers do not fight for our freedom in foreign countries.  All the liberties we’ve lost this last decade at the hands of the federal government should make people realize that the enemy of our liberty is not overseas.

The real price we pay for our freedom is by bearing the responsibility to exercise it when our leaders seek to take our freedom away from us.  Ask yourself:

• If the war in Afghanistan did not stop Osama bin Laden, who is now dead, why are US troops still there?[9]
• If there were no WMD in Iraq, why did the US government really invade that nation?

Pay the price for freedom.  Remember.

_______________________________________

[1] “This war on terrorism is bogus,” by Michael Meacher, 6 Sept 2003, The Guardian, (Accessed at http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/sep/06/september11.iraq on Sept 11, 2011).

[2] “WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TALIBAN?” By Michael Rubin, Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol 6, No. 1, March 2002, (Accessed at http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue1/mrubin.pdf on Sept 11, 2011).

“The decision to arm the Afghan resistance came within two weeks of the Soviet invasion, and quickly gained momentum. In 1980, the Carter administration allocated only $30 million for the Afghan resistance, though under the Reagan administration this amount grew steadily. In 1985, Congress earmarked $250 million for Afghanistan, while Saudi Arabia contributed an equal amount. Two years later, with Saudi Arabia still reportedly matching contributions, annual American aid to the mujahidin reportedly reached $630 million.”

[3] “Analysis: Americans say mistreated by U.S., some courts listen,” By Basil Katz, Reuters, Sept 9, 2011, (Accessed at http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110909/us_nm/us_sept11_bivens on Sept 11, 2011).

[4] “Challenge to CIA renditions dismissed,” AP, Sept 8, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39067928/ns/us_news-security/#.Tm11o-xNLVo on Sept 11, 2011).

[5] “There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says,” By Spencer Ackerman, May 25, 2011, Wired, (Accessed at http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/secret-patriot-act/ on Sept 11, 2011).

[6] “FOIA Victory Will Shed More Light on Warrantless Tracking of Cell Phones,” by Mark Rumold, Sept 10, 2011, Electronic Frontier Foundation (Accessed at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/09/eff-victory-forces-government-disclosure-court on Sept 11, 2011).

[7] “New Patriot Act Controversy: Is Washington Collecting Your Cell-Phone Data?” By Mark Benjamin, Time, June 24, 2011, (Accessed at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2079666,00.html on Sept 11, 2011).

[8] “Surprise! TSA Is Searching Your Car, Subway, Ferry, Bus, AND Plane,” By Jen Quraishi, Jun. 20, 2011, (Accessed at http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/06/tsa-swarms-8000-bus-stations-public-transit-systems-yearly on Sept 11, 2011.

[9] “US 'planned attack on Taleban,” Sept 18, 2001, by George Arney, BBC, (Accessed at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1550366.stm on Sept 11, 2011).

More questions are raised here and here.