Our Back Pages • Revisiting 9/11: Thoughts on the Attacks that have Redefined Our World

Editor's Note: To mark the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 - an insidious moment in  American history that continues to resonate with repercussions that altered the arc of America's destiny - here's some  reflections that appeared in our September 27, 2001 edition of the REVIEW two weeks following the attacks.

It has been two weeks to the day of that fateful morning when two jetliners flew into the foot of Manhattan and transformed the World Trade Center into the mouth of Hell.

Finishing an issue for publication, I like the rest of my countrymen watched in dumbfounded horror as the catastrophe unfolded. It seemed surreal - like a combination of the Book of Revelations and a bad Bruce Willis movie, only the horror was much more precise and imminent - a strategic attack targeted directly at the soul.

Since that fateful morning of September 11th, the defensive numbness has given way to a need among all of us to comprehend the magnitude of this attack. Frankly, it will take months and perhaps years to fully assess the impact and meaning.

This calamity goes way beyond physical and human damage suffered by our nation because it is international in scope; indeed, it is civilizational. 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 & commodities has been lowered, and the nations of the world have increasingly relied upon an invisible 'trust' that people will behave in their rational self-interest.

Now that terrorists have violated that trust, the looming questions remain about what we (and I mean this in the sense of viewing our planet as one single organism) intend to do about it.

Whether policies or an implacable history has delivered this day (and both have arguably contributed) as a nation we must gather our hurting countrymen, wrap our arms around them and address the well being of our future.

In the two weeks since the WTC attack, I have received hundreds of e-mails from voices that are not being heard on CNN or any of the other mainstream news outlets.

Apart from being hurt, many of these voices are 'angry', reflecting sentiments ranging from the desire for more bloodshed through retribution against Afghanistan and Iraq, to assertions that it is G.W. Bush's unilateralist policies, his backing out of the Kyoto Peace Conference and the Durban Conference while funneling millions of dollars into Israel that has brought this tragedy to our doorstep.

In reading through these many letters and e-mails I have come to the conclusion that what is needed on both sides of the political spectrum is a sense of restraint.

Accusing President Bush of deliberately causing the terrorism through his policies, for example, will neither help our nation nor further the goals of freedom. Instead, it will only hurt those in pain and alienate those that otherwise might concur.

But this also does not undercut our need for understanding the roots of this tragedy and the need for open debate about formulating a reaction. Indeed, it is at the precise moments in a democracy when threats seem their greatest that the freedom of open discourse is most needed.

At this crucial time in our history it is also paramount for Americans to revisit and reflect upon their own role on the global stage. That the perpetrators of these attacks must be brought to justice is undeniable - the trick, of course, is how to accomplish this goal without subverting our own liberties and freedoms.

The day following the attacks, I was driving back from Standish listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. He was saying how in the weeks ahead, we will be hearing many leaders talking about how America needs to "pull back on our domestic freedoms and civil liberties", going on to state how "this would be the worst thing we could do because it would signify that the actions of the terrorists had succeeded." This is the first time I have ever heard Rush say anything that I could remotely agree with, and I thought to myself how amazing it is that acts of aggression can indeed create 'strange bedfellows'.

It also must be said that President Bush deserves credit for demonstrating the 'restraint' that he has thus far. Rather than wage a quick and ill-planned counter-attack, he has been working to forge international alliances, build consensus, speaking against ill-founded attacks on Islamic Americans, and in general instructing the American people that terrorist enemies are fundamentally different from any other adversary we have faced.

The terrorists of September 11th are global outlaws. Their status and numbers are such that the task of dealing with them should be viewed as a police matter of the most urgent kind. The essential job is to find out who and where they are.

We also need to reflect upon the dysfunctional foreign policy that helped bring Osama Bin Laden to power.

For example, while Bin Laden inherited about $300 million from his tycoon Saudi father, a builder & developer, he was also trained by the American CIA to help push the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. This was recently documented in an excellent BBC broadcast.

Additionally, back in May of this year, the U.S. Government gave the Taliban in Afghanistan $48 million dollars of our tax money because they promised to "ban all illegal drugs" in their country. This was reported and documented in The New York Times.

On September 11th the line between the permissible shifted.

Americans are a trusting and good-natured people seemingly immune from many of the ravages of this world. Yet we also 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. We have the money and resources to alter all of this; and now, more than ever, we have a moral imperative to recognize that all events are linked, part of that 'inescapable web of mutuality' that Martin Luther King referred to.

These are facts that are not being discussed on CNN that as an informed democracy, we need to both comprehend and address.

But rather than indulge you with my own opinions, I would like to share with you a diverse range of sentiments, facts, and formulations that, hopefully, will deliver a sense of sanity, compassion, and morality to an action that on a bright sunny Tuesday, possessed none.

We Must Transcend This Tragedy Together

The letters below were received at Review Magazine after the events of September 11th, 2001

Dear Editor,

One of the most important things I've learned in this life is that we create our own monsters. As we feed our fears, their power grows and we are left feeling more helpless than ever. This is the illusion. It is imperative that we turn our backs on this monster because by doing everything in our power to create good and love in our lives, we remove its power.

I fail to see the justification for more innocent bloodshed. This is exactly what the Beast wants - he wants us to destroy ourselves, and that is exactly what we are about to let our American leaders do unless we speak up.

I recall several avatars that made a profound impact on the lives of humanity for thousands of years. Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi, and others believed in peace, not retaliation. Fear is the ultimate destroyer and all violence is based upon fear.

I also recall the story of the walls of Jericho and how thousands marching in unison with unified shouts and trumpets crumbled the walls. No weapons, cannons, bombs, just vibration. Vibration is the core of creation, our bodies, and everything around us.

We have alternatives and can choose our own destiny. In the face of this tragedy, I have seen an overflow of support from people all over the world. Keep praying and if you dare speak out, please do. Start planning for a better tomorrow, for the world as it exists right now is about to come crumbling down upon us. It's time to shatter the illusion and take away the power of the beast. This is just my opinion. Bless you and may we transcend together.

Pamela West

Other Voices, Other Thoughts

"The World Trade Center attack was in retaliation for something else, and that was the retaliation for something else. Are we going to continue this in perpetuity? We have to say at some point, 'Okay, let's find another way of doing this.'" - Judy Keane, whose husband Richard was killed during the attack.

Dear friends,

It has recently come to our attention that there are many people in the world who still believe that it's acceptable for them to kill other people. They are apparently under the illusion that war is still an acceptable option.

The hijackers wanted a war and now many Americans want one, too. They are united in wanting the same thing. They think that whoever kills more people somehow 'wins'.

The billions of people who don't want to have a war apparently don't matter. No one has asked them. No one has asked the children who are already traumatized by the crashes and the killing.

Most important, no one has asked whether the planet can actually sustain another major war - without being completely poisoned by radioactive waste from nuclear weapons, germs, poison gas and oil fire smoke.

Some people kill for money, some people kill in the name of power. Some people kill simply because their government "orders" them to. Some kill for their religion, others for their own or someone else's territory. Everyone always seems to have a "good reason" to kill in a war, whether that reason is to "defend freedom", "fight terrorism", "protect our way of life", defend their religion or whatever.

In fact we are all encouraged to kill in wars. We are told that we must "punish" the enemy. These days Americans are being told that they must "make the punishment fit the crime".

However, the people of New Zealand would like you to consider this:
If you really want to have a war, are you willing to destroy the entire planet on your way to victory? Are you aware of the fact that the entire ecosystem is on the verge of collapse, as suddenly and as totally as the World Trade Center?

We the people of New Zealand simply can not believe that the American people are so blinded by hatred and thoughts of revenge that they are unable to come up with a better idea than having a war.

All wars are now obsolete. But the kind of war the American and the Afghan and some other governments are apparently working toward now - is totally insane. This is a war where people are actually talking about using "tactical" nuclear weapons, germ warfare and poison gas, on innocent people (they call it "collateral damage") and soldiers alike.

George W. Bush has called the bombing of the WTC the first act of the "first war of the 21st century". If this war gets out of control, that is, if it goes nuclear, there would be no more air to breathe, no more food to eat, no more water to drink. Another major war could push the whole world over the edge: oil fires ranging out of control; radioactive debris raining down; germ warfare spreading ebola and other deadly viruses, plague and anthrax all over the world, killing millions upon millions of people.

The entire world has been hijacked, not just four airplanes. And the people in charge apparently intend to fly the whole world into a wall and drop us into the abyss of a thousand years of darkness.

But, you say, we can't give in to terrorism. What then can we do?
ANSWER: Like the four American heroes on the plane who fought the hijackers and prevented a fourth catastrophe, the ordinary people of the world must wrest control of the world from those who have hijacked it before it's too late. How? By realizing that we are all in this together. We are all one people, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and all the nations of the earth. We have only one home, earth.

Nobody is without blame and guilt. The American government does much good around the world, but it has indeed helped to create the backlash it now calls terrorism. It has supported an illegal Israeli occupation, perpetuated an oppressive blockade on Iraq that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, and it has become the biggest dealer in arms on the planet.

It has even turned its back on the only worldwide agreement to reduce harmful emissions, and the only worldwide treaty to stop the deployment of antiballistic missiles and weapons in space.

Americans must look deeply into themselves, and find their essential goodness. Instead of defending "capitalism" with the threat of violence as it has done for many generations, it should now begin a turnaround that will defend the planet, our only home, from meltdown.

America can create a "compassionate capitalism", by actually putting people and the planet ahead of profit.

The Americans must recognize that for every action there is a reaction and must therefore understand that a war will create more terrorists, rather than getting rid of them. America must once again lead the world to recovery, just as they did after World War 2. It is so simple. Here is how it goes:
The Americans reach back to their Christian foundations and find forgiveness in their heart. Then they ask the forgiveness of others against whom they have transgressed. They must realize that blame can no longer bring about the desired results. Blame and revenge no longer work (if they ever did). They just get everyone killed.

Some segments of the Muslim community believe that violence against innocent American civilians somehow fulfills their religious teachings. They should review their own teachings. How holy can a war be if it kills not only women and children but the whole earth itself? They must realize that their acts of terror only inflame the situation and bring disgust from much of the world and rejection. Their acts of terror also create more terror and more violence against their people.

Can we change this? Can we do it? Of course we can. All we have to do is love our own life. But we must love everyone else's too. All life is one. From this planet we are born and to this planet we belong.

We are peering into the abyss only because we have allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into believing that there are causes to kill for or that the life of someone's child in a far distant land is not as valuable or as cherished as the life of our own children.

Jesus told us to "love our enemies." He thought that if we did this it would stop us from killing and would turn this earth into the paradise that it can become. He was right.

Islam, we are told, means "peace". There are millions of people in peril as you read this, and you are one of them. No matter how much we may crave revenge, it's time to realize that revenge simply doesn't work. In fact, the whole idea of revenge must be flawed if it can lead us into a situation where we can annihilate millions of people.

After all, we have nothing to lose but our hatred and suffering. The arms manufacturers may not like it, but the planet will and all the people on it. It may take more courage than you think you have, more courage even than going to war. But the alternative is too unspeakable to bear.

New Zealand once told the world that we no longer agree with a policy that relied on nuclear weapons for our defense. We said then and we say it now that there is no security in nuclear weapons, only fear. The only real security we will ever have is the security of the friendship and respect of others who know that we really care about what happens to us all.

We send this to you with love. May the light shine on you and from you, The People of New Zealand (Note: Too many signatures appeared on this correspondence to reprint here.) The Review encourages you to express your own thoughts, comments, and views at this critical junction in our history. Please send your letters to: Review Magazine o 318 S. Hamilton St. o Saginaw, MI 48602 or e-mail them through our website at www.review-mag.com