2007-09-11: Today
by Emily
It's September 11.
Six years later and look where we are.
How many more people have to die? How many more can we avoid harming?
What the hell can we do?
American Friends Service Committee
Education for Peace in Iraq Center
2007-09-11 18:37:07 Remaeus
We can outlaw motor vehicles - 43,000 innocents per year are claimed. Next - let's outlaw cigarettes and alcohol, too.
On a more serious note - let's just finish the damn job, and GTFO. No more pussyfooting around, no more "eh, let's surge a bit".
Can we get back to role playing games, please?
2007-09-11 19:25:34 Emily
Hello,
I read that response as very rude. Was that your intent?
Interesting site. Please post about it more, somewhere appropriate like Story Games etc.
—Em
2007-09-11 19:50:26 Julie, aka jrs
My good friend returns home today. She stayed with us while she revisited her old stomping grounds and touched base with family and friends. Just a few hours ago, we were standing in the kitchen finishing the clean-up from the previous night's meal—still in our pajamas—and listening to the radio. A report of memorial services caused us to look at one another, and she commented that she hadn't realized that she would be flying on 9/11. She had been so engaged in extending her stay at the last minute, and I on her presence, that the date simply slipped our notice.
She's in the air this moment. I trust that she will arrive home safely.
More sobering is that she expects to be deployed by the end of the year.
2007-09-12 13:40:31 Ron Edwards
I had a huge discussion with my freshman students. They'd have been about 13, in 8th grade, at the time. Part of my goal was for us all to talk about the day itself. One of the students had been in school in Washington, D.C., and had actually heard the explosion when the airplane struck the Pentagon.
Another part of the goal was to convey some basic information, if they needed it. I learned that they were not really clear on any of the following: Wahab, mujahideen, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Ba'ath. They have mainly picked up their understanding through osmosis, and are not sure what to think, especially about our presence in Iraq. It helped, I think, for me to sketch out the relative geography and to show that Iran is now completely surrounded by U.S. forces and allies.
I didn't want to get too awful, but I did list some statistics, to date: 650,000 Iraqi dead; 4 million displaced. I told them how cluster bombs worked and that we routinely bomb Iraq and Afghanistan, reporting nothing about this activity at home.
One student asked about suicide bombers, and I outlined three distinct types: Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda. I talked about how their goals, specific targets, religious foundation, circumstances, and methods differed.
At one point I discussed how it was that some of the Islamic regimes which employ extreme Shar'ya law are our buddies: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and (before 2003, and now again) the Taliban. The students were surprised to learn that even though "Islamic extremism" is the new boogeyman, it can be found among those we've supported, and that our claim to support secularism and "democracy" in the middle east is not consistent.
We talked about the run-up to the American invasion, and about the changes in the executive branch even before 9-11. It was interesting to state these things with no judgmental adjectives - in a way, it made them more horrible to my ears.
I told them I didn't want to preach at them, and I hope I succeeded. The goal was to provide some information and to answer some questions.
Best, Ron