Three days into the year and I haven't had to write 2017 yet, well I just did. How long will it take before you remember that ? The years are all running together now. Quick, what year did 9/11 take place ? Doesn't seem all that long ago does it ? It has been fifteen years, three months and 23 days. Or you could say we have had 5,593 mornings since that day. It has been enough that many forget the year. September eleventh could just as well have been described as a date that will live in infamy. I'm quite certain for many of us it will. My grandchildren know what that date is, but will their grandchildren ? I have met many that do not know what Dec 7th is. You have to say it is Pearl Harbor Day and then some remember their history. 9/11 will forever be known as 9/11 in the United States. I wonder if that date carries any significance in other countries ?
Now there were Muslims living in the United States prior to that date. How many I couldn't say, but they were here. We didn't put any of them in internment camps like we did with the Japanese folks. Yes, some were threatened and some physically attacked in this country in the following days, but they were protected by our government, not persecuted. Fifteen years later they are still viewed as a threat, but no action is taken. We are still trying to decide which ones are the " bad " ones and which are the " good." I find myself thinking much the same. I knew a few veterans of WW2 that still harbored suspicion of any Japanese folks and kept a close eye on them well into the 1970's. I knew a man that you didn't even want to mention Korea or Koreans too. Know some right now that have less than a favorable opinion of the Vietnamese. I would say, for me, these Muslim folks are at the head of the line again. There are groups of them throughout the world claiming responsibility for all kinds of attacks, violence, and just downright terrorism. With the others nationality was the common denominator, with the Muslims it is a religion/ideology. Which leaves me to wonder in years to come how will 9/11 be described. Was it an attack on our country or just an act of terror ? What was the purpose, what was to be gained by it ? I'm still asking myself those questions. What troubles me is I think I know some of the answers.
Fifteen years after world war two ended it was 1960. I was seven years old. We had ended the threat of the Nazis and their allies. America was victorious. We knew who the enemy was in that war and defeated them. We started doing business with the enemy, the Japanese. Fact is we rebuilt their country and traded the game of baseball for transistors. For the most part, all was forgiven, at least as far as business was concerned. Germany wasn't a big concern of ours. Why was that ? What did they have to offer us ? We already had their best engineers, intellectuals and the like. They didn't have any natural resources that we desired. Ok, we got the Volkswagen. And the Soviets ? We were keeping a close eye on that bunch, they were not to be trusted !
And now it is fifteen years after the world trade center, the twin towers were attacked and destroyed. Don't forget about the Pentagon or the plane down in Pa. All those lives taken for what ? To what gain ? Was the idea to attack our country and defeat us in battle ? No, that wasn't the intent at all. What was the purpose of all the other " attacks " that have followed ? Is it that the Muslims wish to live peacefully in our country ? If so, they had been doing so since the beginning. Yes there were Muslims living in America back in the 1700's. But we are told they were the " good " Muslims they weren't extremists. Reminds me of those folks I was talking about earlier in this dialogue, those that didn't trust the Japanese or Koreans or Vietnamese. They could only go by the common denominator of their nationality, and was that an unreasonable assumption to make ? Not under the circumstances. In my view a war was started on 9/11 and continues to this day. We are still trying to identify the enemy. Until that happens we can't win.
That is what troubles me the most. We are losing the war, we are losing our country. We are doing so with complacency. The fact is we won't identify the enemy because we need to do business with them. Yup, those oil producing countries that are either Muslim nations themselves or partners with them. We dismiss the whole thing as being a " religious " issue when that isn't the truth of it at all. It is all about business. It is an ideological issue. It is the ideology that is the enemy. And just how do you fight that ?
I don't know. I have no answers. Time will judge our actions or lack thereof. What will 2017 bring ? I can only pray for peace in the world. Years come and go as they always have. Our country is still here. But countries come and go as well. We tend to think it will last forever. The Romans thought so too. History shows us what happened to them. They became a government of appeasement, attempting to keep the " people " happy and entertained. Their Senators were only concerned with their own wealth and well being. War after war was fought and territory gained until it collapsed upon itself. We are fighting a war, not to gain territory, but to keep what we have. And folks, we're losing. I pray that 2017 brings us some gains in the fight. We can stare into the future but the truth is we can only see what is in the rearview mirror.
Now there were Muslims living in the United States prior to that date. How many I couldn't say, but they were here. We didn't put any of them in internment camps like we did with the Japanese folks. Yes, some were threatened and some physically attacked in this country in the following days, but they were protected by our government, not persecuted. Fifteen years later they are still viewed as a threat, but no action is taken. We are still trying to decide which ones are the " bad " ones and which are the " good." I find myself thinking much the same. I knew a few veterans of WW2 that still harbored suspicion of any Japanese folks and kept a close eye on them well into the 1970's. I knew a man that you didn't even want to mention Korea or Koreans too. Know some right now that have less than a favorable opinion of the Vietnamese. I would say, for me, these Muslim folks are at the head of the line again. There are groups of them throughout the world claiming responsibility for all kinds of attacks, violence, and just downright terrorism. With the others nationality was the common denominator, with the Muslims it is a religion/ideology. Which leaves me to wonder in years to come how will 9/11 be described. Was it an attack on our country or just an act of terror ? What was the purpose, what was to be gained by it ? I'm still asking myself those questions. What troubles me is I think I know some of the answers.
Fifteen years after world war two ended it was 1960. I was seven years old. We had ended the threat of the Nazis and their allies. America was victorious. We knew who the enemy was in that war and defeated them. We started doing business with the enemy, the Japanese. Fact is we rebuilt their country and traded the game of baseball for transistors. For the most part, all was forgiven, at least as far as business was concerned. Germany wasn't a big concern of ours. Why was that ? What did they have to offer us ? We already had their best engineers, intellectuals and the like. They didn't have any natural resources that we desired. Ok, we got the Volkswagen. And the Soviets ? We were keeping a close eye on that bunch, they were not to be trusted !
And now it is fifteen years after the world trade center, the twin towers were attacked and destroyed. Don't forget about the Pentagon or the plane down in Pa. All those lives taken for what ? To what gain ? Was the idea to attack our country and defeat us in battle ? No, that wasn't the intent at all. What was the purpose of all the other " attacks " that have followed ? Is it that the Muslims wish to live peacefully in our country ? If so, they had been doing so since the beginning. Yes there were Muslims living in America back in the 1700's. But we are told they were the " good " Muslims they weren't extremists. Reminds me of those folks I was talking about earlier in this dialogue, those that didn't trust the Japanese or Koreans or Vietnamese. They could only go by the common denominator of their nationality, and was that an unreasonable assumption to make ? Not under the circumstances. In my view a war was started on 9/11 and continues to this day. We are still trying to identify the enemy. Until that happens we can't win.
That is what troubles me the most. We are losing the war, we are losing our country. We are doing so with complacency. The fact is we won't identify the enemy because we need to do business with them. Yup, those oil producing countries that are either Muslim nations themselves or partners with them. We dismiss the whole thing as being a " religious " issue when that isn't the truth of it at all. It is all about business. It is an ideological issue. It is the ideology that is the enemy. And just how do you fight that ?
I don't know. I have no answers. Time will judge our actions or lack thereof. What will 2017 bring ? I can only pray for peace in the world. Years come and go as they always have. Our country is still here. But countries come and go as well. We tend to think it will last forever. The Romans thought so too. History shows us what happened to them. They became a government of appeasement, attempting to keep the " people " happy and entertained. Their Senators were only concerned with their own wealth and well being. War after war was fought and territory gained until it collapsed upon itself. We are fighting a war, not to gain territory, but to keep what we have. And folks, we're losing. I pray that 2017 brings us some gains in the fight. We can stare into the future but the truth is we can only see what is in the rearview mirror.
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