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 like that part about moving forward.
I live in an area hit hard by disaster these last years and months, in which we've lost over half as many American citizens as in 9-11. My federal government has failed to adequately perform its most basic duty of protection of the public, and in this case, there were no evil terrorists armed with suicide bombs, anthrax, box cutters and jet planes. Just piss poor levees and broken beaurocracies. Seems like all my tax money's getting sucked down Middle Eastern "spider holes" and Wall Street bail-outs.
So I'm past ready to move forward, but I don't see my government doing anything but looking backward.
As I stare down Hurricane Ike, another Category 4 buzz-saw spinning toward the Gulf Coast, I'm hoping Obama and the Democrats will do a better job running America.
Well said and sadly true, luziannagirl.
Here's a 'northerner' wishing and hoping the best for you and yours - that you weather this particular storm and then, ultimately, we win a victory in November for those that care about you and the future of our country and the world. My thoughts go out to you.
Very well stated, Rep. Kucinich. Very well stated indeed.
This morning on the radio I was listening to a DJ who is above average for a local radio station. He made a few remarks about today being the 7th anniversary of 9/11 and said "In 102 minutes, our worlds changed. It was one of those "you know where you were when it happened" moments." It was heartfelt and sincere in it's plainness, which made me all the more attentive. Then played the Don Henley song "In A New York Minute" and I cried a little. I'd heard the song before, a long time ago, but it just had this power about it - tugging at heartstrings like a great harpist. I think that's the sentiment that goes along with Rep. Kucinich's words. It feels like the soundtrack to healing.
Thank you Representative Kucinich! Against a tide of lies and bullshit, a true hero fights against the abuse of power, the killing of innocents, the degradation of human values in the name of democracy.
John
Mr. Kucinich, you will make a fine Attorney General. I look forward to the day.
Oh my, I'll second that!! But we need him in the house and the senate and as president . . . .
We need him everywhere all the time.
"which will have the power to compel testimony"
"The Constitution has been roundly attacked by the very people who took an oath to defend it."
Anybody able to resolve Congressman Kucinich's contradictory words, above?
the constitution protects people from incriminating themselves. a commission would allow for testimony without prosecution. look at some of the proceedings from S. Africa presided over by Bishop Tutu
What contradiction? Where did Kucinich mention the 5th Amendment? You inferred it and made it look like he said it.
Kucinich advocates "compelling" testimony. No need to mention the 5th, as it is the most commonly known amendment. This obviously places him as one of those violating his oath to defend the Constitution.
I would try, but I have a hard time understanding what it is you're even trying to point out....
Do you have a problem with reading comprehension? I only ask because I understand that such is often a identifying trait for GOPers....
Still with the "Usual Suspects," I see. Anyway, Kucinich advocates compelling witnesses to testify. This violates the Fifth Amendment. Then, later, Kucinich reminds of swearing an oath to defend the Constitution. How on one hand do you force testimony while on the other following the oath? (COPers or Independents has nothing to do with it.)
Compelling testimony for the purpose of finding out the truth is NOT THE SAME as compelling testimony for the purpose of convicting and punishing somebody.
True, but you're assuming that is his intent.
Both right and left would be wise to remember that the assumption of knowing what is right or true, before all of the facts are in, is dangerous ground.
Even after the facts are in, right and wrong can be tricky business.
Any witness subpoenaed (i.e., compelled) to testify before a legislative tribunal, grand jury, or judicial hearing can refuse to answer a question on the ground that the answer might tend to incriminate him. The Fifth Amendment assures that the witness cannot be punished or held in contempt for refusing to answer and no one may presume that his silence is an admission of guilt because the Supreme Court held that his silence is "insolubly ambiguous" in Doyle v. Ohio.
However, if the witness is granted immunity from prosecution for the truthful answers that he would have given, his right to remain silent disappears and he must answer or be jailed in contempt until he answers the question.
Here is how the law works: subpoenas compel a witness to appear and testify before a court, tribunal, or administrative proceeding at which point the witness has the right to plead the fifth which is duly recorded as their testimony.
Of course, in this new age of torture, 'testimony' of sorts is compelled through physical and psychological violence - completely counter to the rule of law and national and international jurisprudence which is why Dennis Kucinich's post is all the more important. If America stands for nothing else it should stand against the use of torture to compel 'testimony'.
Did you really think Congressman Kucinich was advocating eviscerating the rights safeguarded by the fifth amendment? Come on.
Perhaps you should read the Constitution or Dennis Kucinich's website for a better understanding of his position. And while you're there you can contribute to his campaign or sign his petition to make up for your silly attempt to slander/misconstrue his motives and positions -
If a person is "compelled" to testify then his 5th is violated, thus the oath to defend the Constitution is violated. The congressman is using contradictory logic.
I love you Dennis!
And all the best from Germantown, NY Congressman Kucinich!
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