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Originally posted by red_jon
Of course it doesn't. But the US is not the only nation to have experienced such loss.
Of course it doesn't. But the US is not the only nation to have experienced such loss.
But let's narrow the temporal parameters. The terrorist strikes we suffered on Sept. 11, 2001, overshadowed any sort of violence that the Western world had experienced on its home soil since the end of World War II. More than 3,000 people died in a matter of an hour or so on the soil of a Western nation due to multiple terrorist attacks.
On that day, the people living in the United States became reacquainted with the rough ways of the world, and three generations — namely, my parents' "Baby Boomer" generation, my own Generation "X" and the follow-on Generation "Y" — became genuinely intimate with the ways of terror and war in a fashion not seen since the last soldiers returned from fighting in the Pacific in the waning months of 1945. Not even the Korean War or the Vietnam War had such an impact on us in terms of body count w/i the 50 states. After all, North Korea and North Vietnam were unable to touch the homeland of America.
In a manner of speaking, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, catapulted many Americans into "veteran" status in terms of knowing the savageness of terrorism. The more than 3,000 bodies from the strikes in New York City, Washington, D.C., and that field in Pennsylvania served as an "excellent" wake-up call, hmm?
With this in mind, I always find it a bit draining to see those who consider themselves the consciousness and/or enlightened minds of Europe post in such bitter terms when they disagree with whatever America is undertaking in the post-Sept. 11 world. For better or worse, they have little to no experience when it comes to massive terror strikes that claim thousands of lives in the span of an hour. For them to sit there and pass judgement on us to easily and bitterly is ... disheartening.
And don't you DARE spit out Europe's past experience with war as being a reason to judge America with that haughty we-know-better-than-you attitude. You, as in your generation and your parents' generation, don't know what war is. Your grandparents — those who fought against Hitler and Mussolini — would know of what America goes through today. Being savagely attacked w/o warning, w/o mercy and using civilian aircraft as the weapons of choice is something they would know of, except that at least Hitler and his blitzkrieg didn't use civilian planes against civilian targets.
Prior to Sept. 11, myself and many of my fellow Americans were like that, too. Sure, we had the Persian Gulf War, Vietnam and Korea. But none of that touched our home soil, so to speak. We were "innocent" to a degree, perhaps blindly and naively so. But the shocking events of that grim day have catapulted us into a gritty new reality, one that a good part of the world has never had the opportunity to leave, much less re-enter. But re-entered we have, and not happily so. People jumping from flaming skyscrapers, engines on the passenger jets revving as they closed in on their targets, the desperate last calls from the trapped aboard the planes and in the towers, the firefighters, police and rescue personnel all racing into what would become their graveyard. All of that greased our passage back into "the real world." The world where your enemy really does hate you and can kick you in the balls at any time w/o feeling any sense of outrage or dishonor. And then they can plunger a dagger into your back while you're stooped over.
My European acquaintances and friends, I submit to you that you haven't an inkling of what America is going through now. You are now where we were prior to Sept. 11: on the outside looking in, experiencing at a distance what we now know again so up-close-and-personal. But rest assured: You, too, are in the targeting scope of al-Qaida and its associates. They're gunning for you, just as they are for us. Logic and reason are not their tools, and they will *not* listen to it in turn. May it be so that Europe never has to have its own Sept. 11 to finally understand how America was transformed on that terrible, dark, day.
Chastise us if you must. One of the great powers of the Western World is its ability to communicate w/o fear of being silenced. But, please, do so only while taking into account the events of Sept. 11.
And talk to your grandparents.
Gatekeeper
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