[Vision2020] 9/11-what should our reaction have been?

[Paul Rumelhart]

Anger, yes I felt that too.  However, we weren't attacked by the entire 
Arabic culture, we were attacked by members of Al-Qaeda.  Since when did 
it become ok to attack a culture in lieu of those responsible?  I'm not 
talking about you, I'm talking about us as a country.  I remember 
hearing in the news at the time about some Mexicans that were beat up 
because some people thought they were Arabic.  We attacked Afghanistan, 
and then we attacked Iraq.  In my opinion, we let our leadership 
manipulate us by using our prejudices against us.  Just one more reason 
prejudice should be fought.

Why didn't we immediately go to the Arabic countries and say "We don't 
hold you responsible, but we do need your help in tracking this one 
group down".  It should have always been about tracking them down.  Do 
we even know who gave the orders today to fly those planes?  Was it Bin 
Laden?  Or did he just jump in and take the credit?  Where is he, 
anyway?  This should have been one of the most massive investigations in 
history, and it should have happened internationally.  If a country 
wouldn't play along, there should have been international sanctions that 
might eventually have led to military action.  If they were caught, they 
should have been tried by an international tribunal, just like the 
Nuremberg trials.  The terrorists should have been feeling that there 
was no safe haven for them, and that the international community would 
never rest in it's efforts to find them.  Instead, we went and pissed in 
a hornets nest.  Now they have more allies than they ever have had in 
the past.  Are any of the people responsible for 9/11 in Guantanamo or 
in one of our secret prisons?  Why, in the name of everything that is 
sacred to us as a country, do we even have secret prisons?  Do any of 
their names appear on our list of suspected terrorists, which last I 
heard has over 750,000 names on it?

Anyway, I'm glad you didn't change your middle name.  Wikipedia says 
that Tariq means either bringer of messages, shining star, or he who 
leads the way.  We could use all of those right about now.

Paul

Kai Eiselein wrote:
> My own reaction: Concern for family on the east coast first. Pure 
> anger second.
> Later, I considered changing my middle name, Tariq, because it is 
> Arabic. I discussed it with my mother, she was understanding of why I 
> might do so.
> After much thought, I came to the conclusion that for me to change my 
> name would be giving in to those SOB's, they would have won the battle 
> of fear.
> Because of my decision, 9/11 has affected me on a personal level, 
> especially when travelling by air. In the year after the attack, I was 
> subject to very close scrutiny by security, including a strip search 
> at one airport and being followed by a soldier everywhere I went in 
> another. Things have eased as of late, rather than having to 
> completely empty my camera bag of all my gear for physical inspection 
> every time I go through security, its been run through the x-ray 
> machines without issue and I haven't been pulled aside for an extra 
> search.
>  
>
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