First off, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to those who lost siblings, spouses, parents, children and friends due to the events on September 11, 2001. I would also like to thank the everyday heroes who gave so selflessly that day and in the days to follow.
I remember feeling a complete sense of humanity as I watched people tirelessly search the rubble, heard stories of people helping others out of the buildings ahead of themselves, and saw emergency services boldly rush to the dismal scene. Hearing countless stories of people coming together to help one another in such a desperate time is something that is generally rare, but during this time they were plentiful. It made my 13 year-old heart so happy to know that there were good people out there. But there were also the bad people who had caused this devastating event.
I do not remember being angry. I knew we had our sights set on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. It seemed like everything happened so fast from there. Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda. Afghanistan. Saddam Hussein. Iraq. It seemed like we were suddenly everywhere and I didn't quite understand why. And, alas 10 years later we are still fighting the "War on Terror" and I still don't quite understand the shaky logic on how we have ended up here. The United States has paid very highly for this war with both our soldiers and our tax dollars. Since 2001 5,796 soldiers have given their lives for this cause, 41,221 soldiers have been wounded for this cause and finally US citizens have supported this cause with $1,248,027,079,147 in tax dollars. All of these numbers continue to grow at an alarming rate.
It seems like this all happened so quickly that we hardly had time to examine what really happened on September, 11, 2001. We didn't have time to ask some tough questions. We were all so caught up in patriotism that we jumped into a war during a time that we should have been mourning and deciphering the evidence of the events of that gruesome day.
I want to know what happened that day. I am not convinced that terrorists are to blame, and I am not entirely convinced that it was an "inside job," but I do think that there are many questions about what happened that day that need to be answered. And I do find it suspicious that our government has refused to release information and answer these questions.
I have not bothered to delve into the specific questions for a couple reasons. One, many of the questions are complex enough that I would have to write a lengthy lead-in to express the necessity of the question itself [and I don't want to do that, call me lazy]. And two, "Loose Change" [below] does an excellent job of presenting these questions, no need to reinvent the wheel.
If you have never watched this documentary, it is well worth the hour and twenty minutes to do so. Also, it is not a Michael Moore, shove conspiracy down your throat kind of movie. It simply presents evidence and asks questions. They let you come to your own conclusions based on the information they have provided.
If you have never questioned what happened on September 11, 2001, you should. If after you investigate, you still believe that bin Laden is to blame, then you have lost nothing. It is good to have a thoughtful and quizzical eye.
I know some of you may think that I do not like America and that I am not patriotic. And that is not entirely true. I am an American who thinks that America has lost it's way. I do not believe that we are beyond repair. I think that America is made up of intelligent, truth-seeking, well-intentioned people. However, we have to come together and demand more of our government. We must demand transparency. We must demand more freedom. And we must expect more of ourselves as a society. A government is its people, so if we are unhappy with our government, we have the power to change it if we can just band together as a people.
I am beginning to rabbit-trail. So without further adieu, here is Loose Change:
And here is a follow-up movie that they made in 2006, Loose Change: Final Cut:
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