9/11 - Never forget

Just a quick note to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of September 11th - the beginning of the War on Terror.

We lost 3,000 civilians on the first day of the war, and 376 soldiers in the fighting since.

We cannot afford to avert our eyes from evil. We cannot give up one inch to fear. We cannot stop this fight until the fight is won.

Thanks to every person in service who risks their life and honor to those who have died. Those who fight for us know that life is less important than liberty. They know peace is a goal that must sometimes be defended with blood. And they know that their actions today secure a better life for an entire generation tomorrow.

Take some time with your family and loved ones today. If you see a cop, or firefighter, or soldier, thank them with a kind word.

And never forget.

Hard to believe it''s been two years. But I agree, never forget.

In the interests of goodwill and respect, I have chosen to remove this comment from this thread since many of the comments were deemed offensive.

And that, I must say, is a greater act of terror than that which killed them.

Wow. Just when I think I have heard it all. This is so offensive that I don''t know where to start. Farscry, I''m not going to blast you right now, because I don''t want to sully Ral''s thread with it. But if you think holding terrorists as prisoners or granting law enforcement the same powers against terrorists that they have had in other situations is in any way even in the same ballpark as 9/11 you need to do some serious soul searching.

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God bless the soldiers and people that struggle daily to keep us safe. If you are in, or have ever served, you have my thanks and admiration.

"JohnnyMoJo" wrote:

Wow. Just when I think I have heard it all. This is so offensive that I don''t know where to start. Farscry, I''m not going to blast you right now, because I don''t want to sully Ral''s thread with it. But if you think holding terrorists as prisoners or granting law enforcement the same powers against terrorists that they have had in other situations is in any way even in the same ballpark as 9/11 you need to do some serious soul searching.

You know, I''m not going to say they''re worse, because killing people is on an entirely different level than detaining people without trial, I agree with you there. I will say that those acts have done more to destroy American freedom than the terrorists ever thought possible, however. The terrorists who attacked on 9/11 were fanatical cowards who could think of no better way to deal with thier situation than to kill thousands of people and scare 260 million to death. They had thier moment and were gone. Things like the PATRIOT act actually have the power to change America, something the terrorists can only dream of.

I agree with Farscry on one thing, everyone needs to remember and seriously contemplate 9/11. Not just slapping a flag sticker on your car and going ""Yes sir! Fight them towelheads!"" or holding a protest sign that says ""Bush is teh NAZI!"". None of you guys are doing this, I''m just saying ""Never forget"" ends up being an excuse for people to do the easy thing too often, it''s an important thing in our history and we should look back and reflect on it.

It does seem a bit surreal that it''s been 2 years since that horrific event. My thoughts are definatly with all of those families out there who must still feel so empty.

It''s strange, though, how caught up in my own routine I can get. I was aware of what today was, but didn''t really think about it this morning. I went right into my usual routine. Wake up, shave, brush teeth, shower, dress, leave for work. On the way to work, I stopped at a McD''s for a cup of coffee, and coming out of the drive through and onto the large 5 lane road that this McD''s sits on, I stopped to let a man pass by in front of me in the driveway. He was an older man, dressed up in an American flag hat, an American flag jacket, and waving an American flag in each hand. As I stopped to let him go in front of my car, he nodded and mouthed, ""Thank you"", and I sat there for a minute, thought, and said the same. I thought and recalled exactly where I was when I first heard of the attack on the towers in New York. I thought about how I felt, and where we''ve been since then. I thanked him again for reminding me about what this day signifies. He continued down the road, waving his flags for passerbys.

Never forget. Have a great day. Warm regards to you all. God bless America.

I don''t know if I should feel sad or angry today. When I read some accounts from that day in 2001, I am both.

These words should sum up everyone''s sentiments, spoken once by a newspaper after 9-11 and again by a foreign leader a year ago today:

""We are all Americans.""

Edit: Things best forgotten...or are they?

Good post WineGlass. Thank you for a nice sentiment and story. I will probably have to quit reading these threads today because I have a hard time with ""America-bashers"" who sit there on their ass and complain about where they live. Guess what? There are plane tickets waiting for you

You know Rat Boy, I thought your post was outstanding until you edited it with that additional URL.

"Rantage" wrote:

I thought your post was outstanding

It was meant to be ironic, once you realized who said it and how many from your persuasion feel about him. Here''s another one:

Whatever might be terrorism's deep origins, whatever the economic and political factors involved in it, and whoever might be most responsible for bringing it into the world, no one can deny that terrorism is today a dangerous and ethically indefensible phenomenon, which must be eradicated.

Who said it?

Arafat, right?

Edit - I was close - Fidel...

Edit 2 - and I''m not sure how your ""We are all Americans"" is ironic. If you are quoting Netanyahu, who said this on 9/21/2001, then his comment was incredibly fitting, not ironic...

Yes, I thought you were quoting Netanyahu.

Aside from how my ""persuasion"" (eh?) feel about Castro, I''m not quite sure if your post would have qualified as irony.

Given that the statements quoted above have been made by men (no, it wasn''t Netanyahu; hint: current world leader) universally denounced by conservatives, I thought it was quite ironic to point out these statements of sympathy and solidarity. Here''s a couple more (and yes, you have to guess):

""This is not only an attack on the United States but an attack on the civilised world.""
""It is impossible to fully comprehend the evil that would have conjured up such a cowardly and depraved assault upon thousands of innocent people.""

And a partial one from a world leader who said he felt ""deep regret and sympathy with the victims.""

The ironic thing is that many of these world leaders are better at words than deeds. When America, led by George Bush promised to fight and eradicate global terror, the world applauded, but has since shrunk from the challenge. I can imagine few evils greater than to allow the world to revert to the opinions of pre-9/11, which is what many so-called ""peace-loving"" and ""civilized"" people would like.