subject: A Time to Grieve, A Time to Move Forward [print this page] On September 11, 2001, a strong wind ran through the streets of New York City, trees swayed, and forecasters urged people to bring light coats and jackets to work.
Just a short while later, the course of history changed forever as four airplanes were converted into missiles by the emissaries of hatred.
Thousands died. Countless morewere injured, either physically or emotionally, and their pain lingers to this day in manycases.
Time seemed to slow down and speed up all at once, and an infinite amount of time later and seemingly only seconds later, President George W. Bush announced the invasion of Afghanistan.
Poorly planned and, in retrospect, carelessly led, the campaign against Afghanistan was mounted and the Taliban regime seemingly toppled.
Less than two years later, the United States, still in knee-jerk mode, invaded Iraq, in part because of Republican claims that Hussein had tied to al-Qaeda and in part because no Democrat voiced any significant opposition to the war, for fear of dropping out of favor with voters.
9/11 was never a political day. President Obama did well yesterday in calling for a day of silent reflection and "national unity" instead of the high level of partisanship that is taking over this year's 9/11, what with Quran burnings in Florida and renewed outcries over the Ground Zero mosque.
The greatness of nations is not measured by their immediate reaction to a crisis.
Majestic nations can easily be thrown into chaos by earthquakes or sudden and unprovoked invasions or by a handful of hate-filled terrorists. Weak nations can suddenly rise to apparent greatness due toa speedy reaction to those very same calamities that can bring chaos to the world's largest empires.
On September 11, 2001, the United States, then unquestionably the world's only superpower, was thrown into chaos and its reactions and political discourse were suddenly dominated by the acts of terrorists.
To this day, those acts continue to dominate the national discourse. Terms like "the war on terror" have disappeared, but as the incident with Pastor Jones and as the outcry over a mosque have both shown, the United States continues to be dominated by that sorrowful day.
It is, of course, appropriate to remember those who died that day. It is appropriate to remember the unknowing victims who were taken from us that day.
But the United States of America is, at the very least geopolitically, a great nation, and great nations should not be dominated by the actions of others. Great nations should have the strength to define their own realities and their own discourses.
So far, the United States has yet to do that.
Even with a new president and with the start of a new decade, the United States continues to be in the grip of thehate-filled terrorists who launched a cowardly attack on innocents.
Without losing sight of the fallen and without forgetting the sight of those two great towerson the New York City sky-line, it is high time for the United States to movebeyond 9/11, to realize that sometimes the best remedy is to focus on the future instead of the past.
It is not a question of forgetting.
It isa question of orientation.
Will the United States continue its policy of reacting, or will the nation that was once the unquestionably dominant superpowerof our planet move beyond reacting and actually start to set its own agenda?
Will the United States focus on the past, or start to think once more of the future?
President Obama's version of withdrawing from Iraq was a step in the right direction, but much more is needed for the United States to really move beyond the terror of that fateful day.
It is time for airports to stop being scary, and it is time for a security system that moves beyond police officers with automatic assault rifles standing in popular Manhattan streets, and it is time for the subway announcements reminding people of random search rights for the police to stop.
The mentality of terror is as present as ever.
The United States was a great nation once.
It is time for the United States to re-gain that greatness again, and looking toward the future and beyond the past is the only way to do that.
To those who lost loved ones on thatday, our thoughts and prayers, today and every day,are with you, your families, and those you.
