I have read and seen a lot of stuff in the paper, on the TV and online decrying Israel's pummeling of Gaza. So let's take a short trip down memory lane, shall we?
2,977 people were killed in the 9/11 attack. Many more died as a result of cleaning up the debris of the World Trade Center.[1] In the aftermath, we not only drove the Taliban out of Afghanistan,[2] we invaded and defeated another country that had nothing to do with 9/11.[3]
The casualty figures of that misbegotten invasion are disputed. But it is safe to say that hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed. When "excess deaths" are computed, the butcher's bill is likely around a million or so.
A million people, all innocent, who were killed because we invaded a country based on no good goddamn reason, other than Darth and Chimpy wanted to do it. Besides that. two million or so people fled the country as refugees. Two million more were displaced internally, "internal refugees" if you will.
Not to mention that more Americans were killed there than who died on 9/11/01. The arrogance of American mercenaries resulted in a brutal battle that levelled a city.[4] The actions of soldiers guarding a prison became a further stain on American honor.[5]
A country that was a counterweight to Iran became, more or less, an Iranian puppet state. Terrorists took over a portion of the country, necessitating even more military involvement.[6]
All of that, the entire parade of horribles, came from American overreaction to 9/11. The reverberations from that overreaction will persist for decades to come. The consequences of that overreaction have been largely met with a collective shrug by the American people.[7], [8] So it's not as though we are standing on high ground when we criticize Israel's war against Gaza.
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[1] Most of those because of their own obstinacy. Though advised to wear respiratory protection, most refused. While at the Pentagon cleanup, which was a military project, the workers were ordered to wear respiratory protection and, as a result, the incidence of respiratory problems was very low.
[2] Temporarily.
[3] Iraq.
[4] The Battle of Mosul.
[5] Abu Ghraib Prison.
[6] ISIS.
[7] Though the senior members of the Bush Administration have since been scrupulously avoiding foreign travel in order to avoid being arrested on war crimes charges.
[8] A number of other countries also participated for their own reasons. So they own a piece of this, too.
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6 comments:
This is needed clarity in a sadly confused world. Also too, Happy New Year.
Mooneyguy, I thought you were dead!
Not yet! I have been wrapped around the axle with one of my radio station clients with a tube transmitter. Keeping it on the air, finding parts, and moving to a new solid state unit keeps me busy. I check your site most every day, though. Any new books in the works?
Not really. I have a draft that I completed ten years ago; I've edited about 25% of it and I can't seem to generate the motivation to push through to the end.
This brought up a memory, probably dim and inaccurate, of a Mad Magazine cover during the Vietnam Era. Alfred E. Neuman on the cover with a hard hat saying "My country right or wrong". It's seems to be human nature for a group of people to ignore the wrongs their group does but are quite willing to point out others doing things so similar as to be almost exactly alike. Or more than that as the right wing media and politicians do with their projection. Right wing commenters on other sites seem to use inaccurate "whataboutisms" constantly. They have to pick those up from somewhere.
IMHO 9/11 has kind of dimmed in importance over the decades due to the number of Covid deaths (since only 2020!) and the lack of comparable outrage compared to the way 4 hijacked airliners and 4K casualties caused this country to lose its collective mind. What's 4000 dead compared to 1,000,000++ (over 4 years)? BTW what really pisses me off about 9/11 is the whole damned thing could have been prevented w/locks on the pilot cabin doors...
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