Remembering 9/11 and Moving Forward
America must move from the errant, retributive justice of 9/11 to a healing, restorative process of truth and reconciliation.
Before the Congress adjourns, I will bring forth a new proposal for the establishment of a National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, which will have the power to compel testimony and gather official documents to reveal to the American people not only the underlying deception which has divided us, but in that process of truth seeking set our nation on a path of reconciliation.
We suffer in our remembrance of 9/11, because of the terrible loss of innocent lives on that grim day. We also suffer because 9/11 was seized as an opportunity to run a political agenda, which has set America on a course of the destruction of another nation and the destruction of our own Constitution. And we have become less secure as a result of the warped practice of pursing peace through the exercise of pre-emptive military strength.
It is not simply 9/11 that needs to be remembered. We also need to remember the politicization of 9/11 and the polarizing narrative which followed, locking us into endless conflict, a war on terror which has wrought further terror worldwide and which has severely damaged our standing worldwide as an honorable, compassionate nation. As we were all victims of 9/11, so we have become victims of the interpretation of 9/11.
Our government's external response to 9/11 was to attack a nation which did not attack us. Indeed on the first anniversary of 9/11, the Bush administration issued a well-publicized stern warning to Iraq which was part of a campaign to induce people to believe Iraq had something to do with 9/11.
The deliberate, systematic connection of Iraq with 9/11 has led America into a philosophical and moral cul-de-sac as over one million Iraqis and over 4155 US soldiers have died in a war which will cost over $3 trillion. Additionally, soldiers from 23 other countries have died in the Iraq war.
We attempt to unite Iraq by further dividing it. We talk about restoring Iraq while taking steps to place control of its vast oil wealth in the hands of US oil giants. And we intend to impose upon the Iraqi people the cost of rebuilding a country which our government ruined, keeping a once prosperous nation lashed to debt and poverty for a long, long time. Iraq has paid for 9/11. We all continue to pay for 9/11.
The heartbreaking loss of the lives and injuries to America troops further binds us to the Administration's illogic of the Iraq war: We remember our troops' sacrifice by demanding more sacrifice; we support our troops by continuing the war.
The dominant color of our new national security since 911 is neither red, white nor blue. Everyday is orange. Everyday reminders of fear of 9/11 become banal.. Yet we no longer hear the airport announcements nor see the orange colored warnings because they have commonplace standards in our new national security state, as is the Patriot Act, wiretapping, and a host of invasions of privacy and diminution of civil liberties. The Constitution has been roundly attacked by the very people who took an oath to defend it.
There is a powerful desire across America for change, not necessarily from control by one political party to another, but a change from living with lies to living with truth.
Over two dozen nations, facing peril within and without, deeply divided by politics and war have travelled down a path of restoring civil society through a formal process of reconciliation. At some point within each of those countries it was understood that the way forward is shown through the light of truth. This process is not without pain because it requires a willingness to study evidence to which eyes had been averted and ears had been closed. But in the process of truth and reconciliation, nations found new strength, new resolve, new commitment.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation enabled that nation to come to grips with its past through a public confessional, bringing forward those who committed crimes and having the power to grant amnesty for full disclosure of crimes against the people. Of course, our path may necessarily be different: High US government officials stand accused in Impeachment petitions of violating national and international law. Our continued existence as a democracy may depend upon how thoroughly we seek the truth. I will call upon the America people to join me in supporting this effort.
The truth can move us forward, as a unified whole, so that we can one day become a re-United States. 9/11 is the day the world changed. It is the day America embraced a metaphor of war. If we are open to truth and reconciliation, we may one day be able, once again, to embrace peace.
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I tuned in to CSPAN to watch the 9-11 memorial services, commemoration ceremony this morning.
And, lo, there was Rumsfeld,a featured speaker. There was Gates, another speaker. There was Bush, another speaker. They were all applauded, even standing up applauding from the crowd. There was American Flag. There were military service men and women on the stage. This was a military ceremony. Nothing more, nothing less.
I was appalled and distraught. I still am. This is to be a memorial to all who died on that day, mostly civilians, mostly in that very spot. Why was this a military event? What did the military have to do with 9-11?
Where was Mayor Blumberg when this venue was decided upon? Did he have no say in the matter? This was, to me, an insult to the survivors.
This is feels like the rise of the Fourth Reich. The nationalist fervor. The respect and awe and reverence paid to the military. The bombastic, strutting, self important, aggressive, ignorant little men, one now residing in the WH (and today, smirking, and chatting as they walked, at the completion of the ceremony, dissociated as always from the true gravitus of the moment), and the other small, pugilist, smart-ass vying for the leadership of a country bent on destroying the world. The hubris.
Dennis-------
You have risen to the top with this post about 9/11. You are clarity of mind and purpose is inspiring and fills me with hope. Keep spreading this message and I completely support and will work for the establishment of your proposed Commission on Truth and Reconciliation.
May God give you strength of purpose in your mission, Rep. Kucinich!
with heartfelt appreciation,
Penny Parkin
Thank you Dennis-- By the time of the memorial for our flight crews and passengers it was apparent that the actions of 9/11 were not an invasion or a war, but horrible crimes designed to provoke a response. Unheard voices realized the danger of using the word "war". I am not a pacifist, but I recognize the folly of being easily manipulated. We asked that we reach out in our grief and send out memorials to those dead from 9/11 and other crimes, to connect with the world, to send these memorials of the pictures of the victims and their families immediately to evey city and country in the world and create an environment in which "terrorists" would not be tolerated. Whatever country or people who refused to share our grief would be suspect, and we could focus our attention on them. Instead, seven years later, many in this country and around the world don't know the people who perished that day. They know instead that we can be manipulated by militaristic urges and they (and we) have learned how fragile are the noble ideas which once best represented the hope and potential of this country. I wish they had the chance to meet just one of the people who died that day, who had chosen a new career, one who was excited about what lay in store, and who rushed up to our gate frequently, trying to catch an earlier hop home.
Mr Kusinich, you are a true hero. A lonely, honest and courageous voice surrounded a wall of silence. Every word you said is measured and truthful. Even Ariana said repeatedly that we should avoid questions about 9/11 and focus on the secondary aspects. But half-truths do not really work. That is why Cheney/Bush got re-elected.
It does my heart good to see someone like Dennis Kucinich on the national political stage. I have my doubts about everything in this country, and like a lot of people, I often just feel like giving up on it.
I like to hear Obama talk about Hope. I like to hear Kucinich talk about Truth, Peace, Justice...
I'm not sure I can believe in any of it any more.
Thank you very much for your work, Rep. Kucinich - and please keep it up, no matter what (I'm sure you need no urging to do just that!)
I've signed the petition, and will be contributing to your campaign. Thanks again.
This is a true patriot who puts "COUNTRY FIRST".
Thank you Rep. Kucinich for having the courage, intregrity and decency to speak the truth on this very somber day.
Thank you Rep. Kucinich. I have always agreed with you..and Russ Feingold on just about everything. In addition to truth seeking we must rearrange our economy so that if world peace should ever break out we won't be destroyed economically. This country runs on war..weapons makers, Halliburton..companies that are involved in the military industrial complex run our economy and run our policy. We need to put Americans to work doing things other than supporting the war machine. thank you again for speaking the truth.
Welcome, Rep. Kucinich! While I would support anything that exposes the criminalities of the past few years, I fear that the corporate-owned media will report distorted facts and bury anything that may incriminate the Bush Administration. If we're serious about exposing the truth then we must first address media reform and the Fourth Estate's journalistic standards (or lack thereof).
Thanks for keeping this alive; hopefully, President Obama and Vice President Biden will do all they can to help move this legislation forward.
Why Dennis is not the Democratic nominee for President is another tragedy for the country whatever the reason is. Perhaps he did not play along with the right people. Perhaps if he had spoken during his campaign with the passion that he did at the DNC things would have been different.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv0smG7ptcM
If he would just explain where the money is going to come from to pay for universal health care he would be perfect.
Don't give up. Your country will need you soon.
If he would just explain where the money is going to come from to pay for universal health care he would be perfect."
Wellll....lets see, we could take it from the Pentagon budget.
We could have the President go forth and demand from Congress a "supplemental" check for $100,000,000,000 every year to continue care. Health care or Killing, which do you prefer?
We could nationalize the oil and gas of our Nation and use the proceeds FOR our Nation.
We could stop the give-aways to foreign dictators.
We could HALT the WAR on drugs scam.
We could empty the prisons of smokers and pill poppers....
Really, there are many many places to stop the wasteful plundering of our Nation and restore priorities in a...ohmigod...COMMON SENSE order. DUH
First, we elect Obama.
Then we restore our Constitution and in doing so we have the battle half won. When we throw out all the unconstitutional crap from this sick administration, we can breathe some clean air with clear heads.
several advance countries have universal healthcare that is not government-funded but is for everyone. Germany and Japan have private systems that cover everyone for much less than US spends to cover some. It isn't patients who are limited and regulated and told what to do by bureaucrats, its the doctors and insurance companies who jump through the hoops. In Canada we don't pay and it cost s less than what US healthcare costs per person. We pay more in taxes but it is only recent newcomers who complain. Their children don't complain. It's good, like finally putting that scarf on in the winter that your gran knitted for you and realising you could have been warm all this time.
Thank you Dennis for your vision and integrity. As usual you speak the truth and are our most vocal (and rare) voice of conscience, and we owe you a debt. I fear that these words of wisdom will be lost on a general population apparently more impressed with the lies and deceit those in confrontation with your views bring to the table. Our Fourth Estate, the press, has abandoned their critical responsibility in our republic, to inform, and instead are either co-opted, bought outright by the "other side", or are bamboozled by the need to "tell both sides" of an issue, even if that "other side" is just lies and BS propaganda. The press has abandoned journalism and truth in favor of profits, career and influence. Where the devil are other Dem voices of sanity , outrage and inspiration working hard for a win in November?
My heartfelt and undying thanks to you, Rep. Kucinich, for being the lone voice calling for truth. Those that accept the official story of 9/11/01 are deluding themselves or haven't read the hard evidence presented by true experts in the fields of physics, architecture and engineering. Let's allow them to present their cases and SCIENTIFIC evidence before an OBJECTIVE, official audience - one with the power to act on the evidence. I want to see Karl Rove, R. Cheney, D. Rumsfeld, G.W. Bush, C. Rice, P. Wolfowitz, A. Gonzalez, D. Feith and the rest of the cabal that took over our govt. in a bloodless coup frog-marched into federal penitentiaries, were they should rot for the remainder of their natural lives.
Dennis Kucinich is a true democrat. God bless you Dennis.
. . . a true patriot.
Thank-you, Dennis.
Your never-give-up defense of the bedrock principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Rule of Law is the beacon of light illuminating the only redemptive path out of the darkness in which we find ourselves. We are a rogue nation that has declared itself no longer bound by any international treaties and foreign obligations to which we were a party. We are destroying every principle that millions of our ancestors heroically fought for and defended with their lives, fortune, and blood. We have become what those true patriots fought against and this will be our shameful legacy to our descendants unless we stand together, end this terrible nightmare, and take back what we have allowed our leaders to take from us. The horrific crimes and atrocities that have been committed in our names cannot be casually dismissed and ignored. There must be an accounting and the truth must be disclosed for all to see before the healing can begin.
Bless you for showing us the way.
Perfectly said, Mason, thank you. And thank you Congressman Kucinich for leading the way.
Hi Mr Kucinich...We in the UK watched you at the convention and were baffled as why
you're not appreciated more in the US we would love someone like you over here.
Another thing why B. Obama did'nt have the forsight to have you as his running mate
is mind boggling ,that would have been some change!
Yes it is my business as the last eight years has effected us drastically due to the Bush Admin
as well our own sycophantic government.
Right now we are watching with horror at the prospect of Macain/Palin in the WH.. say it ain't so!
Our hopes are pinned on people like you who have the ballz to fight this...I'm at aloss for words
as what to call it!
Kucinich is not owned by anyone, that is why he will never make it to the top of Party A or Party B, kinda like Ron Paul but with much better Ideas IMO. Soon as Americans stop voting for Party A or Party B those parties will be forced to actually reevaluate the contempt they show for voters. But the R's are really off the chart when it comes to contempt for intelligence.
Question to you (and an answer too): Where did you get Tony Brown/Blair? Would you appreciate a Kucinich if you had one?
The UK needs a 'truth squad' as much as the USA does and for the very same reasons. If Dennis Kucinich was in the UK today he would be just as much 'ignored' as we ignore our best and brightest, so, I ask you, who does the UK have to offer and let's get behind him or her before Iran is next on the ugly American agenda.
Best, but annoyed at your passing of the buck, devalued as it is.
The buck isn't the only thing that's been devalued, democracy has been devalued mate,
unfortunately we also just have a two party system others don't have a hope in hell, which is my point and why I admire Kucinich for trying to address this!
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