September 11, 2007

I suppose remarks about the date are obligatory, but I can't think of anything more to add to what I wrote last year and the year before. This is from last year...

It took only five years, but the effect of terrorism on America is becoming a measurable success. We have been transformed from the world's avatar for peace, democracy, freedom, economic success and political stability into however those ideals can become corrupt.

Instead of peace we stand for war.

Instead of democracy we stand for the support of monarchies, autocrats and the suppression of popular opinion.

Instead of freedom, we stand for domination. Most humanitarian efforts are administered by Americans in military uniforms instead of civilian clothes.

Global portfolios are not graded according to how well they lift poor people out of economic hardship but how good the ROI looks this quarter, this year, of for the latest five-year trend. (Both are possible, by the way. We don't have to choose between exploitation and profits but most investors are so concerned with profits that they have no impulse to monitor the exploitation contributing to the revenue.)

No need to go on. Those who see my point will agree and the rest will not be swayed by further ranting on my part. I watched helplessly as people in positions of power successfully persuaded most of America that the War in Iraq was triggered by Arabian terrorists who perpetrated the WTC attack, the attack of the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93. As those horrible events are relived this weekend, I continue to watch helplessly as the memories of those painful hours are profaned to suit various political agendas.

It makes me sick to remember. Very little seems to have changed.

Here is a link to the 2005 post. Abbas Raza's remarks are worth revisiting.
And he was kind enough to leave a comment as well.