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Thoughts on 9/11 - One Year After

By Robert E.  Martin

As with most tragedies, it is difficult if not impossible to forget

the haunting impact they make upon our lives, nor the resolve that is

essential to accommodate the changes they dictate.  Such is the case with

the terrorist attacks that occurred within the borders of country on

September 11th one year ago.

Much has changed within America since that fateful day that paints a

portrait of contradictions.

In essence what we have witnessed in the year since 9/11 is a tug-of-war

between the innate American characteristics of courage and compassion that

have also been tested by impulses of intolerance coupled with a summer

filled with news of economic ruin, climatic foreboding, the abduction of

children, and, of course, the costs enacted by acts of terrorism, war, and

rumors of war.

Since 9/11 Americans have learned that they cannot live their lives in a

vacuum, nor can they afford to become isolationist.  We are all involved in

the 'tree of life', as poet Robert Lowell once described it, and if

democratic principles are to flourish, they must not only be engaged within

our own boundaries, but practiced and promoted upon a global scale.

Unfortunately, this has not always been the case throughout the past year.

And the core principles of a democracy are always put to the test during

times of war in a balancing act that is often impossible to rectify with

the principles that we stand for.

Ironically, this often transcends political parties. For while on the one

hand people may criticize Attorney General John Ashcroft for curbing civil

liberties and setting up detention camps, they often forget that President

Franklin D. Roosevelt did the same thing during World War II with the

detention camps of Korematsu.

Again, the issue comes down to one of context and our ability to understand

one another. As Queen Elizabeth II once said: "True patriotism doesn't

exclude an understanding of the patriotism of others."

Since the end of the Cold War the human race has become, with increasing

rapidity, a single organism. Many of the barriers to the free and rapid

movement of goods and commodities has been lowered, and the nations of the

world have increasingly relied upon an invisible hand of trust that people

will behave in their rational self-interest.

After 9/11 we learned that rationality and self-interest do not always go

hand-in-hand. Whether policies or an implacable history triggered the

terrorist attacks one year ago (and both have arguably contributed) the

test for us as a nation at this point in time is to move forward.  Not only

do we need to understand the roots of this tragedy and embrace open debate

in formulating our evolving reaction; we need to also tap into those

qualities of our character that transcend hatred.

The novelist Norman Mailer noted last year after the attacks that

ultimately the outcome of our fate may hinge upon how cohesive our country

can become in terms of defining the values of its own spirituality.  For

while the Taliban are unified behind one religion and one notion of God,

Americans comprise a diverse nation that embraces many forms of God and

spirituality.  Therefore, ultimately our fate may come down to how deeply

we can dig into those core values of our spirit that through the ages, have

defined our greatness.

Americans are a trusting and good-natured people seemingly immune from many

of the ravages of this world.   After 9/11 we learned that none of us can

afford to sit on the sidelines.

It is said that we are only as secure as our weakest link; therefore, we

must realize that one billion people on this planet have no clean drinking

water. Two billion have no electricity. Three billion have never made a

phone call from their home.  Therefore, not only America, but also all of

the democratic nations of the world must realize that they do have the

money and resources to change all of this.

In summation, we have a moral imperative to recognize that all events are

linked.

How we shape and forge those links is axiomatic to our survival.

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