On this day, we are remembering the events of 28 January 1986. What was a rather routine space shuttle launch, not even, we thought, newsworthy enough for the major networks to carry it live. It had become that routine. It was not long, however, before the day's low key celebration of a routine launch turned horribly tragic. Amazing as it seems today, looking back, we have students in med school who had not even been born at that time. A quarter of a century, 25 years, has passed. But, for those of us who were around in those days, the memories are as vivid as ever.
The tenth anniversary of yet another national tragedy will be marked this year. Hard to believe, but the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States happened ten years ago this September. I'm sure you can remember where you were and what you were doing at that time.
A lot has happened in the past ten years. As a society, we have learned that we are vulnerable, that the rantings of what we thought of as radicals were not quite so out there, not nearly as far fetched as the moderate majority would have us believe.
Television news organizations do a lot of research, research that they keep to themselves, for the most part. Research that they use to decide what news you want to know about. Since 9-11, and consistently near the top (number 2) of that list, is---public safety. We want to know what's going on around us that threatens our well being. We want to know what we can do to ensure our safety. We want to know what our government is doing to keep us safe.
It remains apparent that in the wake of 9-11, and the panic that ensued, we did a lot of knee-jerk reacting. At least, that's what many have thought as they stood in long lines, removing their shoes, before they could board their airplanes. A lot of inconvenience and, as time has gone by, more and more think it is totally unnecessary. It's a bit like the warnings and preparations preceding the "possible" attack of a hurricane. Unless that storm results in catastrophic property damage and loss of life, we become complacent. The next threat isn't treated with as much respect. Somelike like crying wolf, many say.
9-11 DID happen. And, it CAN happen again. We are doing what we think is best in this country to stop it before it happens. As it is with rules and laws, there are those who look for loopholes. While we can, as a nation, take every precaution to ensure our safety, there are groups looking for ways around our safeguards. And, rest assured, they will find them. Our job is to make it as difficult as possible, to close up as many easy avenues as we can. That way, it will be more likely that the bad guys will make a mistake as they prepare their attacks.
Lest we forget. 9-11 happened. It was not a dream. We want to make sure it is not a dream that will happen over and over.
I only wish our president would realize and acknowledge that the murders of innocent men, women and children were not carried out by "violent extremists", but by terrorists. They created terror in those World Trade Center offices. They created terror for the relatives and friends who watched as the buildings collapsed, as desperate people jumped out windows. They terrorized an entire nation while their brothers and sisters celebrated in the streets back home.
In his Cairo speech in 2009, our then new president's speech ticked off a lot of us. I only hope he learned a lesson, but from his track record, he has learned nothing.
A partial transcript of that speech:
"...tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.
Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust".
"Tension". "Violent extremists". "Hostile". What a wuss. Come on, Mr. President. These killers, these terrorists, have scared the crap out of us. They've made us mad. They've killed innocent men, women and children in the name of religion!!!! They have caused us to lock ourselves in our homes like never before. They've caused us to call police when we see a guy with a camera taking pictures of the full moon (yep, in Decmeber, while I was shooting photos of the rising full moon and was greeted by two very courteous and understanding gentlemen in blue) because they feared the camera and long lens could be a gun. Who can blame us? We were attacked in our homes. Terrorists caused this, not violent extremists.
Do not let ten years make you feel any safer. Do not become complacent because we haven't been attacked lately. You can thank our military for the aggressive work they're doing to keep that "tension" on the terrorists' turf. You can thank them for killing as many as they have in the last ten years. You can thank the diligent efforts of our intelligence community for quietly, in most cases, of locating and neutralizing "violent extremists" and their cells. A lot happens we don't know about. And, that's proably a good thing.
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