baldilocks

In View of the Day

(Thanks to Mudville Gazette)

Remembrance Day 2007 (UPDATED)

So here it is again. It's September 11th and it's Tuesday. But what does that mean or, rather, what should it mean?

Sure, every time I see video of the attacks I'm angry anew, but what does that anger serve? The anger does subside, but memory remains. Not just the memory of the emotions evoked by the day, but the memory of why that day occurred; of why they hate us.

Good old Osama has submitted a second message for us in as many days. This one features a message from Abu Musab Waleed al-Shehri, one of the hijackers who commandeered American Airlines Flight 11, which collided with the North Tower on the day in question. (It seems that each of the hijackers recorded a "will" before going after those virgins.) Osama--who does like to go on--introduces Al-Shehri's message from the grave, saying that the latter had "helped his religion and pleased his Lord"--whoever al-Shehri's lord may be. As the words of both men are spoken (in Arabic, of course, with English subtitles), the fiery destruction of the Towers can be seen looping in the background.

However, those visions didn't evoke anger in me this time, but scorn and, dare to say, derisive laughter at how little Islamists understand the West as it is personified by America--at least the part of America which refuses to be cowed by such images. The Devil hates to be ridiculed, as C.S. Lewis reminded us in The Screwtape Letters.

Osama and his ilk believe that all we infidels are afraid of dying. Of course, this is false, as demonstrated by the numbers of the men and women who have volunteered to join the US Armed Forces since September 11, 2001--even one Scott Thomas Beauchamp. And, in spite of the recent antics perpetrated by the Left, I think that the "woof tickets" which the Islamists continue to sell have an unintended effect on the vast majority of the American viewing public: it hardens the resolve to defeat them.

I hadn't planned on putting forth an anniversary post today because many of the other commemorations seem to rather wallow in grief and sadness and I didn't want to be a part of that. In the couple of years subsequent to the attacks, the nearly unbearable emotions were understandable. But now I think it's time put away the tears and to remember that we're in this fight for the long haul and that we're in it to make sure that another 9/11 doesn't happen again.

We shouldn't be afraid of dying and, unlike Islamists, we should go on living. By that, I don't mean merely breathing, eating, sleeping and sorrowing over what has been lost, but living well. And keeping watch.

Blessedly for we who live in the USA, we can do both. If we remember that, we can't never be defeated.

UPDATE: I participated in this Zogby poll, am one of those 46 percent of Americans living in the western part of the country who thinks about 9/11 at least once a week and one of the 91 percent who thinks that another attack on the homeland is inevitable--but thinking about such and fearing it are two different things.

However, "remembrance without resistance to jihad and its enablers is a recipe for another 9/11."--Michelle Malkin

BTW, I put up the flag in front of the house at sunrise.

UPDATE: This blog receives a lot of hits from Google searchers who use the key words "PICTURES OF BODIES FROM 9/11." This will invariably take the searcher to my 9/11/2003 post entitled "Fear Itself," in which no bodies of 9/11 victims are featured, of course.

While my first reaction upon discovering this fact was to exhort these searchers to "go away, you ghouls," I reconsidered and now think that reading that post might be helpful to such people. Hey, I can be an optimist on occasion.

UPDATE: On further consideration, I thought that it might be hospitable to add a helpful, directional update at the top of "Fear Itself."

Bill Clinton Strikes Back

…with his finger pointed at the interviewer no less (Fox News’ Chris Wallace). It’s a fascinating clip to watch, especially for those of us who were paying attention in the 1990s when the United States sustained attack after attack from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda while the former president seemed to want to act against bin Laden’s network of terrorists, but either displayed indecisiveness, put forth ineffectual tactics or spoke of trying to reason with the type of persons who demonstrably did not believe in reason.

If the clip is any indication of the flavor of the entire interview, Former President Clinton twists events around admirably. He claims that “rightwingers” did nothing about terrorism during his tenure in the White House and blasted him for his own efforts. True, without the context of said events: “Rightwingers” did nothing about terrorism in the nineties because they were not sitting in the Executive Office—it wasn’t their place to “do something” about terrorism. It was his. And he was ridiculed for his efforts not because of his failure--as he terms it--but because of his fecklessness which could have lead to no other outcome but failure: some slipshod missile strikes and failing to act when partisans offer to hand bin Laden over to America. These "actions" did indeed incite ridicule. He also claims that his Republican successor did nothing about terrorism in the eight months preceding 9/11. True. But what about the 92 months of the Clinton administration—the time span between the February 1993 World Trade Center attack and the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, a span which contained several more al-Qaeda attacks on Americans, including the bombings of two US Embassies--where either nothing was done, ineffectual measures were taken or opportunities were bypassed?

During his administration, the former president wasn’t alone in one area of magnitudinal proportions: he did not understand the cultural mindset of the enemy we now have turned to face. Like many of us back then, he thought that we could live in the manner in which we chose and not interfere (too much) when others chose to live in another way. Addtionally, he (and we) thought that we could carry on with inserting the typical American interventions which had been our staple since World War Two. Germans and Japanese didn’t attack American interests abroad; nor did even Koreans or Vietnamese, so why would some group of Arab/Muslims do it? If one thinks about the shocking visciousness of 9/11 and remembers the plaintive inquiry from numerous quarters who wondered “why they hate us,” the mindset of the attacked victim comes flooding back. We couldn’t comprehend the notion of a group of people hating America (and the West) so much that such a group could inflict such a horrible, large-scale death on so many people.

I couldn’t (though I had a hunch). And I suspect that, before 9/11, most other Americans couldn’t either, in spite of the attacks which heralded 9/11. Could Bill Clinton conceive of such hatred during his presidency? His actions during that time point to a ‘no’ answer. And if one thinks about it and is honest, there is no shame in that. But we understand now—well, at least some of us.

Where there is indeed shame is in President Clinton’s behavior right now. If the video clip is any indication, the former president isn’t about to concede that his acts against terrorists were ineffectual or non-existent. It isn’t that he can’t admit that he was wrong (though that’s part of it). It’s that he can’t admit that he is no longer the perfectly loved and trusted president by a good part of this nation—even by people like me who voted for him twice. His behavior for most of the Bush Administration had even begun to garner more respect for him—especially in contrast to that of his vice-president. But he’s beginning to throw it all away. And the most pathetic part about that is this: most people who were disillusioned by his brands of politics, policy, strategy and tactics with regard to fighting terrorism could even have a modicum of respect for him were he to admit that he had been wrong in that area. But, unless the video clip distorts the nature of the interview, I don’t think that a Bill Clinton mea culpa for his anti-terror measures is in the offing. It was an act that last longer than might have been expected, but it's over now.

Here’s the thing about decisions: sometimes they are wrong and if one is fortunate and canny, only about half of them are. The worst types of decision-makers are these: 1) the one who makes a decision and does nothing or makes only token efforts to see that decision through, and 2) the one who, in the face of the dire need to decide, dithers. (A lesser type of bad decision-maker is the type who makes a decision and does everything possible to see that decision through even in the face of evidence that the original decision was a bad one. Some say that President Bush’s decision to intervene in Iraq was an example of such. Perhaps, but my personal opinion is that the jury’s decision isn’t final on that particular “long, hard slog.”)

Former President Clinton’s decision-making skills, at least as far as the War on Terrorists goes—the war which started long before his presidency and for which it should be acknowledged that his immediate few predecessors, Bush the Elder, Reagan, Carter, and Ford, also didn’t comprehend--fall under those first two categories. And what does that say about him? Nothing, expect that, like most of the rest of us, he didn’t understand the nature of Islamists and that he had bad advisers and/or he didn’t listen to the good ones. But, am I surprised that former president isn’t able to acknowledge his horrid errors in this vital area of the presidency? No, given his demonstrable nature and given the fact that his wife is probably looking to become president in 2008. However, I’m still angered and saddened by it, nonetheless.

I will be watching when the full interview is broadcast on Fox News Sunday two days from now. Perhaps, the clip isn't what it seems to be.

Why I Hate Them

Two men.

Based on the accounts of witnesses and loved ones' knowledge of the two men's characters, a devastating picture emerges of that tragic morning. [SNIP]

When the first plane hit the building, [Abe] Zelmanowitz, 55, and [Edward] Beyea, 42, both systems analysts for Blue Cross Blue Shield, fled the office with their co-workers. The elevators were not working, and Beyea, a 300-pound man in a heavy mechanized wheelchair, could not get down the stairs, which were choked with streams of panicked workers. [SNIP]

"He couldn't have left him," said Zelmanowitz's sister-in-law, Evelyn Zelmanowitz of Flatlands, N.Y. "That's what made Abe, Abe." [SNIP]

Both men were lost in the collapse of the north tower that morning. [SNIP]

There is some indication that they had made it to the 21st floor when the building collapsed. Their bodies have not been recovered.

Why are such men hated?

On that very day, I was sad, then furious and then filled with hate. I don’t feel the latter much any more, but, occasionally, it flairs up again; especially when I read about people like Misters Zelmanowitz and Beyea. Their families have nothing to bury; they only live with the memory of loved persons. And, meanwhile, other men and women are dying for having breathed in the dust of their bodies, along with the dust of their desks, their computers, the dust of Mr. Beyea’s wheelchair, the dust of the building in which they worked, and are dying from just plain grief.

Why don’t we hate them?

Do I hate them—the terrorists who murdered Misters Zelmanowitz and Beyea? No, not most of the time. Nor do I hate their liked-minded living brethren. Do I fear them? Most certainly not, but that’s merely because I learned to not fear those which can kill the body—also because I knew a long time ago that the goal of any terrorist is to instill fear. Can't give them that particular victory.

But why shouldn’t I hate those who would murder such seemingly innocuous, harmless and loving men like Zelmanowitz and Beyea? Because it does nothing for either me or those two men; I’m here and they’re bodies are now an integral part of New York City (along with those of hundreds of others who were never found in the wreckage of the Twin Towers).

So why does the story of these two formerly living men fill me with so much anger?

Because they were simply living well and they should have been left alone to go on living the same way. That they died well and honorably—like so many others on that day—is uplifting in a way, but guess what? I would have preferred that they had gone on living anonymously rather than to have become one of the footnotes in many a 9/11 post like this one.

And that’s why I hate the terrorists. Sometimes. Okay, often.

(Thanks to Pajamas Media)

No Words Necessary

A Jarring Reminder

While watching the news on Sunday morning, I saw Sandy Dahl--widow of Flight 93's lead pilot, Captain Jason Dahl--give an interview about the upcoming movie United 93 and the response to the movie's trailer which is being shown in theaters at present. The interesting thing about Mrs. Dahl is her occupation. She also works for United Airlines—as a flight attendant. One thing that many of us forget is the courage of the flight crews (along with that of the passengers) that resumed status as soon as President Bush allowed commercial and private aircraft back into service.

Even though she was obviously struggling to hold it together emotionally for the camera, Mrs. Dahl was all for the depiction of the events. She said that the heroism of the passengers of that famed flight is being forgotten and that—since they had already known of the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers--we must be reminded of the fact that United Flight 93's passengers and crew gave their lives for our government, such as it is.

Judith Weiss has a roundup of commentary on the new movie. In one of her own posts, she says that United 93 will "separate the men from the boys," and that “it will be a cultural identifier for the group of people who want to win this war and feel surrounded by those who are hostile or indifferent.”

Of note: while perusing the IMDB listing of the cast, I noticed that there are no cast members portraying Captain Dahl, his co-pilot Leroy Homer or Lisa Jefferson, the last still-living person to talk to Flight 93’s most famous passenger, Todd Beamer. Ms. Jefferson reportedly recited the 23rd Psalm with Mr. Beamer—“I will fear no evil”--along with the Lord's Prayer. We’ll see how the existence and actions of these persons are handled, however.

Can you take that as an intention for me to see this movie? Yes, and in the theater, no less. I think that we owe it to any victims of 9/11 to bear witness to any celluloid portrayals of their sacrifice, heroism and most untimely demise. Jim Gerhagty agrees:

If somebody doesn’t want to walk into a theater and watch it and relive all that, I can’t begrudge them. For me... I think I’ll have to see it. It’s almost like attending a memorial service. Periodically, I want to remember, to be reminded of everything of that day, to know what this war we're fighting is all about, and what the world can be during its worst hours and what individuals can be at their finest hours. I wonder how many other folks feel like that.

(Thanks to Pajamas Media)

One of the Worst

José Guardia at Barcepundit remembers those who fell in one of the most horrendous attacks perpetrated during the Global War on Terror(ists).

Of Disasters And Of Peace

On January 28, 1986, during the one of the hourly, ten minute breaks that is a feature of any classroom technical training in the military—in this case I was at DLI learning German--I turned from getting my morning coffee to watch the television as the Challenger was making its ascent. Suddenly—

I’ll never forget the wide eyes, the open mouths that were suddenly a feature of every face in the room; the ‘Oh-my-Gods’ that issued from nearly every mouth. DLI hosts students from each service and nearly all of its language instructors are civilian native-speakers. So it was that in the room I was in, Air Force, Army, Marine, Navy and civilian alike stood stunned—some in tears—as the fate of the Challenger’s crew slowly dawned on the mind of each individual observer.

At the time, I thought no disaster could be so universally traumatic to witness. We all know differently now, of course.

*****

Whenever I have thought of the Challenger disaster, I can’t help but think of the lone civilian member of the crew, Christa McAuliffe. Most of us who were adults then recall the media blitz immediate preceding Mrs. McAuliffe’s mission. As the first civilian (a teacher) to go into space, there was a lot of excitement—and, yes, hype—surrounding the lady’s presence on the Challenger. However, one report stands out in my mind: some interviewer asked Mrs. McAuliffe’s young daughter, Caroline—around five or six at the time—how she felt about her mother going into space. The poor kid was afraid that her mother would never come back.

Over these many years, I have wondered how the now-young woman has been doing and have sent up a prayer for her every now and then, along with all of the others.

*****

Not long after the Columbia disaster, my mother, who works for a Big Media organization, had occasion to meet a brother of one of the crew of the last mission. The upshot of his attitude was this: he hurt and he missed his sister, but he was, at the same time, at peace. His sister died doing something that she loved, had dreamed about and trained for nearly all of her life, and she had been making a positive contribution to her society and to its future.

That’s all any of us can aspire to.

UPDATE: Dr. Sanity was there.

Not Fearing the Reaper

Death. You’re thinking about it; so am I. How to stave it off, how not to die of a painful and/or debilitating illness and, most of all, how not to perish in a disaster, whether that disaster is of human or divine origin.

Surely, you can see the contradiction in that. We exercise, eat right, don’t smoke/quit smoking, use anti-aging potions and have work done to try to look good and keep our old age comfortable, but if we’re going to die young in some large- or small-scale disaster, we don’t have to worry about any of that anyway. Yet, we view dying young as incredibly tragic. So do you want to die old and crochety or young and beautiful? You can't have both, sorry.

The thing is this: we really don’t want to die at all. We want to keep doing what ever it is that is detrimental to our health with no consequences and we want no car crashes, terrorist attacks, hurricanes, or wars to interfere with that. And on top of that, we want to stay young-looking and beautiful forever, like Tolkien’s elves.

And that is why the wailing and the gnashing of the teeth will continue about both 9/11 and Katrina, beyond all appropriate bounds.

On a certain level, it's puzzling, even amusing, all our efforts to put off the inevitable. But, yes, I’m still not smoking, will be in the gym tomorrow and am stepping up disaster preparedness around here. However, my body will still cease to function at some point and I accept that.

But what of us who believe in life beyond the grave, who believe that Jesus is the Savior of mankind? What is there to fear? By definition, nothing.

So, to acknowledge that I don’t fear that which can kill the body, and to acknowledge before men and women that I accept Jesus Christ as Savior, I’m getting baptized today, September 11, 2005.

My pastor said that today would be a good day for baptism: "a good day to stick a finger in the eye of the devil." I prefer to think of it as a good day to give the devil--and death--the finger (just in case you thought I was becoming too holy).

Back later.

UPDATE 5:30 PM PDT: Ah, you guys made me tear up! :-) Thank you.

Just Gone

The “missing” in London.

Jenny Nicholson, 24, the daughter of Rev Julie Nicholson and her husband Gregg from Reading, had just started a new job in the capital. Her parents said that she regularly took one of the commuter services which were targeted. A spokesman for the Bristol diocese said that Mrs Nicholson, who is the priest-in-charge at St Aidan Church in Bristol, was "remarkably calm" [SNIP]

Jamie Gordon, 30, from Enfield, called his office at 9:40am saying he was on a bus from Euston. One his colleagues at City Asset Management said Mr Gordon's mobile phone had been found in the wreckage of the bus. [SNIP]

Shehara Akther Islam, 20, from Plaistow, east London, was probably on the Circle line going through Liverpool Street. She did not arrive at work on Thursday or return to the home where she lived with father Shamsul and mother Shopma. [SNIP]

And dozens more.

(Thanks to My Pet Jawa)