One year ago, terrorists supported by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan hijacked four planes. Two of these planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. One crashed into the out ring of the Pentagon. The fourth was believed to be headed towards the White House, but was supplanted within and crashed in the rural farmfields somewhere in Pennsylvania.
That day, I woke up like any other day. I went to work… Fire & Light… and Noreen Westphal had her radio turned on. She looked distressed. Then again, it was not uncommon for her to look distressed at work. My ears perked up when I heard something about a plane crashed into the Pentagon. Everyone in the office half-heartededly went about their work. We were more interested in the pictures we saw on the Internet newswires and the reports from the radio. When I went back towards campus, I found out that all classes have been cancelled for the day. There was an assembly, where one of the Deans and several professors hosted a forum to discuss the day’s events. In the J Cafeteria, the TV was constantly tuned in on CNN for weeks afterwards. Needless to say, many students became jaded with the reports.
My reaction to these events were not common. Immediately I was critical of our government. Why didn’t the Administration respond to the FBI and CIA reports? Our government knew, yet it did not react. Why? Our we justified in bombing Afghanistan? Enabling the Northern Alliance to do the U.S.’s dirty work, (a.k.a. ground forces)? I understood that the public was angry. As a whole, the nation wanted to lash out at a target. The citizens of Afghanistan, already living in rubble from over 20 years of war, were the bystanders as we targeted the Taliban.
A year later, and Afghanistan is now being led by Hamid Karzai, president of its interim-government. An assassination attempt occurred Thursday of last week. And there are still many obstacles Karzai, the world community for that matter, must overcome. In the meantime, the U.S. is pursuing an aggressive policy towards Iraq. The Administration is riding on its military momentum, and wants to take the opportunity to tie up some “unfinished business”.
A year later, the U.S. is getting ready for another war.
A year later, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I got my first job since graduation.
The irony.