What does 9/11 mean to you?

[doofus-01]

Hi,

This has nothing to do with Wesnoth in any way, but I ask because this is an international forum and there is a broad age-range.

There is a big hooplah now over the terrorist attacks in NYC 10 years ago, I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts about it.

I just heard a George Packer interview that summed up my thoughts as well as I could hope, but I'm having trouble finding a link for it. But to paraphrase: 9/11 didn't change everything.

To those of you in your teens, 2001 was a long time ago. To those of you not in the US, you may have had to deal with bombings, riots, or floods that hit closer to home, depending where you are. From where I sit, in the USA, there was 9/11, but then there was Iraq Invasion/Diversion (2003), Katrina Dereliction(2005), Wall Street Bailout (2008) & Great (Continuing) Recession. 9/11 has been an incredible burden for our armed forces, and that will be a price we pay going forward. But not one that changed much for the rest of us.

Thinking on it, 9/11/2001-9/11/2002 was really a different era, and not a particularly relevant one to today. Flying on a airplane was less unpleasant on 9/10/2001 than it is today, but boo-hoo. I could say more, but I don't want to turn this into a political screed, just a question of what 9/11 means to you, wherever you are.

[ancestral]

I think 9/11 as the event in the US is significant, and tragic, but honestly, I wish the media would stop talking about it. There are far more important causes of deaths in the world that go unnoticed. I'm hoping after this year 9/11 will just be September 11th, one day after September 10th, one day before September 12th.

[Sapient]

I'm hoping after this year 9/11 will just be September 9th

9/11 to ancestral means 9/9 (here in USA we write the month before the day...)

[Dunno]

I disagree. 9/11 did change the world, especially the way some people think about muslims and islam. After 9/11 many ignorants say that every muslim is a terrorist, a blood-thirsty murderer. It happens even in Poland, far away from US.

[tekelili]

I live in Madrid, Spain (I was near one of the train station that was bombed, just 2 km when it hapened). But to explain what means 9/11 to me, I must first explain something about Spain History. Our people chosed in a democratic way a goverment in 1933. This goverment was attacked by an army rebels in 1936. Main powers (USA, Great Britain and France) left alone our goverment (also forbiding sell weapons) while Germany and Italy send military support to rebels. We lost our freedom and we didnt retake it after WWII was finished. As happened to eastern Europe countries, we didnt recover freedom for many years (1976), and that is always in our memory. I cant avoid feel empathy to any people that suffers something similar.

For me september 11th will be always date when democatric goverment in Chile was attacked by an army Rebelion supported by USA. That meant lot of years without fredom for Chile´s people, and lot, lot, lot of deaths and tortured ones. That was a very sad date for millons of people, and suffer inflicted unmessurable. 11/9/1973 will be always in my memory, because forgot history is just first step to repeat it.

[Velensk]

To me the biggest thing is that that the general American populace had a wake up call on the truth of general vulnerability. I rememember a few years before it happened being told by an American that nobody could ever touch America directly. He seemed to genuinely believe in his invulnerability and the overall additude is one I'd seen plenty of and even as a kid it bothered me. Pride comes before the fall and frequently after as well but at least it takes some time to recover.

I think to some extent that it is fortunate that the terrorists targeted symbols rather than infrastructure.

[Gambit]

I disagree. 9/11 did change the world, especially the way some people think about muslims and islam. After 9/11 many ignorants say that every muslim is a terrorist, a blood-thirsty murderer. It happens even in Poland, far away from US.

Nah, the Christian fundies were already saying this. It just made them louder, and made them retreat further into their stupidity.

Fundamentalist Religion Is Bad™ It doesn't matter what version of what deit(y/ies) you believe in. It can turn you into a bloodthirsty killer all the same. Although I don't want to just blame it on these groups that read their holy texts wrong and completely misunderstood everything in them.

If you are willing to put anything above logic or rational discussion, and it makes you angry when faced with logic or rationality, you are part of this problem.



And this is what 9/11 means to me. It is the crowning moment of American stupidity. We ignored reports that it was coming. We were slow to respond while it was ongoing. Our reaction afterward has (mild swearing) been HORRIBLE.

[averyimaginativename]

11 September 2001 was the day the terrorists won.

People are still scared. In my day, if you found unattended luggage in an airport, you thought "I'm having that". Now you run away and cry like a little girl because it must be a bomb and we're all going to die.

We don't take over the media every year with endless coverage of the IRA. We occasionally mention Lockerbie, but that's largely because of the ongoing legal palaver. Yet one attack, that killed less people than flu did on the same day, changed everything - not in a sentimental way, in a how-the-hell-did-these-people-get-elected way.

Our government abused - more than abused - civil liberties to counter a terrorist threat that, well, I'm yet to see any evidence that it even really counts as a terrorist threat compared to what we had in the 80's.

Our freedoms deteriorated. Censorship soared. People were scared - often deliberately so in readiness for manipulation by their own government. We lost that day. And the worst bit is, we did it to ourselves.

[Hulavuta]

I disagree. 9/11 did change the world, especially the way some people think about muslims and islam. After 9/11 many ignorants say that every muslim is a terrorist, a blood-thirsty murderer. It happens even in Poland, far away from US.

Nah, the Christian fundies were already saying this. It just made them louder, and made them retreat further into their stupidity.

I could be wrong but I don't think fundamentalist Christians were taken any more seriously then than they are now...but all it took was a stupid act by a few muslim terrorists for people the world over to think that ALL muslims want to blow up the world.

[Great_Mage_Atari]

I'm an America citizen, born and raised. I don't really know if any of you are (not that it matters, per se), but I had to live through that terrifying day in my history. Blood was shed that day because of terrorism, cowards who did not show their face, but rather decided to kill our citizens to prove their evil point. We still celebrate it because of the men, women, and children who died that day, today, in 2001. 2,740 innocent American lives were taken away because of men who believed in a backwards cause, and that is not something that any of us should forget. That day still brings me back to the absolute terror I had to witness, the pain and agony of my family and friends.

I think 9/11 as the event in the US is significant, and tragic, but honestly, I wish the media would stop talking about it. There are far more important causes of deaths in the world that go unnoticed. I'm hoping after this year 9/11 will just be September 9th, one day after September 8th, one day before September 10th.

As for this, our media will never quit talking about it. It is too big of an event, too sad of a day to where any of us should let it slip into limbo. We need to know what we're fighting for. As for "there are far more important causes of deaths in the world that go unnoticed", America needs something to feel bad about, odd as it may seem, to bring us all together. Are there more important deaths? You tell me. But frankly, 2,740 of innocent lives were taken away that day. That's 2,740 too many. 9/11 will never be celebrated on the 9th, or 8th, or 10th. It will always be 9/11, a day to remember. A day that still haunts us, when terrorism reigned on our soil.

Sorry for my rambling, that is all.

[Velensk]

Considering how many people die on an average day, a couple thousand is relatively small change. Plenty of those deaths are for things even more ignoble than misguided ideals. I won't deny that 9/11 was a significant event and I even actually support efforts to fight the various muslium dictatorships and terror groups in the Middle East but I still think that in general the people of the United States makes far too big a show of being tramatized by it. The most important thing when fighting terrorists is to not be terrorised. That does not mean that it also isn't important to do whatever else you can to inconvenience their efforts but as long as you are not crying/raging in sorrow or in terror or dieing to the last man, they are not accomplishing their objective.

[Gambit]

We need to know what we're fighting for.

Fighting who? Where?

[ancestral]

I'm hoping after this year 9/11 will just be September 9th

9/11 to ancestral means 9/9 (here in USA we write the month before the day...)

Haha! Wow I was a bit tired when I wrote that. (Edited!)

[Great_Mage_Atari]

We need to know what we're fighting for.

Fighting who? Where?

...Terrorism? Al-Queda? Iraq and Afghanistan? The War on Terror?
@ancestral: sorry for using your quote. It was not directed specifically towards you, I just liked to talk about it.

[Blarumyrran]

We need to know what we're fighting for.

Fighting who? Where?

We are to fight airplanes, in all forms and guises. It is not a war we started, but it is a war we will win - we will never forget 9/11. Only in the blazing dawn of the sundering shriek of the last airplane can mankind find peace and safety.

Man was not meant to fly.