The Real Lessons of 9/11
As we mark the six anniversary of the 9/11 attack, it is time for Americans to face the real lessons of that horrible morning. Until we dispel the myths which the Bush administration and a compliant media have been feeding us, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes and suffer similar consequences.
Lesson 1: They Do Not Hate Us Because 'We are Free.'
For decades the U.S Government has committed horrible acts around the world, often in secret but always in the name of the American people. In every region on earth, our government has overthrown or undermined democracies, aided brutal dictatorships, and funded guerrilla wars under the guise of fighting for freedom. Until the American people grapple with this fact, our government will continue to engage in activities that destabilize the world community and bring pain and suffering to millions, including our own citizens.
Lesson 2: Anyone Could Have Imagined the 9/11 Attack
Our government failed to protect us on 9/11 not because such an attack was unimaginable but because bureaucratic turf wars and incompetence at the highest levels impeded our counter-terrorist efforts. The CIA tracked one of the hijackers into the United States but refused to pass that fact along to the FBI. FBI field agents repeatedly warned their bosses about suspected terrorists taking flight lessons but no investigation followed. The president was explicitly warned about an impending attack with airplanes but did nothing. Why not? We still don't know. The 9/11 Commission was a whitewash designed to protect the reputations of incompetent, bloated bureaucracies and a distracted White House.
Lesson 3: Our Leaders Displayed Cowardice in the Face of Terror
After the attacks, our local and national leaders refused to question the administration's contention that the air at ground zero was safe. Why was no alarm sounded by all the politicians who visited ground zero and smelled the foul, poisonous fumes? Leaders in both parties also surrendered our constitutional liberties and protections because they feared being called unpatriotic. They allowed Bush to ignore the Geneva Accords and engage in torture and extraordinary rendition. They allotted Homeland Security funds based on politics, not genuine threat assessments. And some politicians now seem unbothered by our failure to kill Bin Laden. Let's be clear, Bin Laden is not just a symbol -- his hands drip with the blood of thousands of Americans who must be avenged. When our leaders abandoned their responsibility to protect our lives and our ideals, they gave a great victory to the terrorists. Nothing could be more cowardly.
Lesson 4: The World is Not Divided between Good vs. Evil.
We should never negotiate with terrorists and we must hunt down Bin Laden and anyone else who attacks us. But we should not arbitrarily label governments 'evil' or 'terrorist regimes' and then wage covert or overt war against them. Look at the effects of Bush's belligerence toward the so-called Axis of Evil. In Iraq, we could have avoided 3700 American dead and the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents if we respected international law and allowed the UN weapons inspections to continue. By spurning direct talks with North Korea and threatening them, Bush forced Kim Jong-ill to create and test a plutonium bomb. Fortunately South Korea took a conciliatory diplomatic approach that now promises a peaceful resolution. We need to once again work with Iran on issues of mutual concern (Iraq, arms proliferation, and regional peace). Opening diplomatic negotiation with Iran is not naïve, shameful or irresponsible. In fact the tough talk we hear from Bush, Cheney and many presidential candidates simply feeds influence of Iranian extremists. The United States must stop all covert activities against Iran and begin good faith negotiations that will secure a lasting peace.
Long before 9/11, Iran fought a war against the Taliban and Wahabi terrorist networks like Al-Qaeda. The Iranians funded the Northern Alliance and in the fall of 2001 they provided the U.S. with key intelligence about Afghanistan. However, Bush and the neocons ignored the advice of the State Dept. and the CIA and spurned further cooperation. Once Bush dropped the 'Axis of Evil' line in January 2002, there was no turning back. We missed a great opportunity to learn from the Iranians and to build ties between our intelligence communities that might have helped us find Bin Laden.
Lesson 5: We Must Fight Them Over There Before They Attack Us Over Here.
Invading Iraq was a terrible mistake and now we are trying the fix the mistake with more violence. The surge is not working despite what General Petraeus says. In the last year the civilian death toll has risen along with the number of refugees. Our occupation of Iraq has fed anti-American resentment worldwide. We need to admit we made a terrible mistake, begin a troop withdrawal immediately and work with regional powers, including Iran, to stabilize the country and the region. Once we stabilize Iraq, we need to settle the Palestinian issue once and for all. The cycle of violence will not be broken with more violence. We will live in peace only after fair-handed, good-faith negotiation.
Lesson 6: We Need a Real 9/11 Investigation
This September 11th I am going to give a speech at the UN calling for a new, truly independent 9//11 Commission. This commission would investigate unanswered questions including the historical causes of the attack and the manifold failures of our government before and after the event. Unlike the first investigation, this commission should be granted subpoena power and full access to all governmental files and personnel. George Bush should be forced to testify ALONE.
I do not believe 9/11 was a governmental conspiracy. But I know that our government was partly at fault by engaging in polices that inspired it, failing to take aggressive steps to stop it, and sacrificing the liberty and safety of our citizens after it. It's time we find out why and do something about it.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Check out these excerpts from from NBC’s Chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski’s 03/2/2004 article “Avoiding Attacking Suspected Terrorist Mastermind”:
“In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaeda had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide. The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and air-strikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council...
Military officials quoted in article explained that “the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.”
The Miklaszewski article, which cited unnamed sources, was confirmed in a 2006 ABC TV interview with Mike Scheuer, who in 2002 was head of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit: “Almost every day we sent a package to the White House that had overhead imagery of the house he [Zarqawi] was staying in. It was a terrorist training camp . . . experimenting with ricin and anthrax . . . any collateral damage there would have been terrorists
Apparently you don't understand that most of that is propaganda generated by the military-i
We the people are being manipulated. They are also manipulating us to think only the politicians they tell us about are electable. This is all propaganda.
This is a good set of lessons. But Lesson 5 (Lesson 5: We Must Fight Them Over There Before They Attack Us Over Here. ) is nonsense.
The question that begs to be answered is:
So... what are we going to do about it? About our assesination attempts, our killing and maiming of inocents, our disregard for duly elected goverments, etc.
How has mainstream media hidden this man so well. I read a great deal, but am taken aback by the eloquence and truth spoken by this man. I would vote for him today over any of the wannabees.
Well said Mr. Gravel and I thank you for once again exposing the outrageous propaganda that comes out of the main stream media and our corrupt government. You and Mr. Kucinich stand there speaking the truth but the apparently deaf and dumb Democrats will end up voting for Hillary in the primaries. Americans go for spin over substance every time. May the God's smile upon you for standing up and telling the truth!
If you really support Sen. Gravel, then vote for him in the primary. Even if he doesn't win, it will help elect delegates for him to the Convention. It will show strength for his views within the party, that he is not a "gadfly", but a truth teller.
Don't vote for Clinton/Ob
1) You'll feel better you voted for your first choice.
2) It will help them and their supporters change and shape the party from the inside, if that is even still possible.
could not agree with you more.
even a moderate showing by either or both candidates will give them an opportunity to help shape the party platform at the convention.
i encourage everyone to take the following survey:
http://www
now, if your top-matched candidate is not the same as the one you feel you 'should' be voting for, ask yourself:
'why am i really voting for this person instead of the one that is most closely aligned with my personal convictions?'
the answers to that question may begin to uncover just how deeply we are all being manipulated to vote for a particular set of candidates over the ones that most closely share our values, beliefs and ideals.
don't fall for it.
you have the power.
it's all in how you use it.
What happens
if Hillary is forced to wothdraw. $850,000 is a lot of illegal campaign contributions. With that kind of contribution the donor gets visibility. Why did she not question the source? Why - becasue she is all image and no substance.
Yes image sells to the public, but when image tarnishes the public turns the other way.
Support Mike Gravel because he is real and when the images become tarnished he will still be standing. Honesty and clear thinking always prevail in the end.
I like Mike.
Eric Von Baranov
Even better than waiting till the primary would be to donate to him what you spent the last time you went to the movies. Go to Gravel2008
I hope your first point carries the weight it deserves both with the general public and with those who shape policy. There can be little doubt that the 1953 CIA-engineered coup against Mossadeq, the popular Prime Minister of Iran, has had considerable consequences. One needs to know when short-term gains will lead to long-term losses. Foreign policy demands the long view.
Mr. Gravel was right during Vietnam and he is right now. Service academy grads are not re-upping and it isn't because hedge funds are hiring them.
Americans, mostly young, need to get off the internet and get into the street. Assemble and be heard.
Dems may indeed blow this one again. Unless, 2008 is a year of discontent, this country is going down the toilet. I'm afraid that some jerk will take the rest of the world with it.
Bravo Mike!
We airline crewmembers knew in 2000 that the next hijacking would be to fly into buildings. The FAA refused to alter our recurrent (annual) training to address the probability.
"The FAA refused to alter our recurrent (annual) training to address the probabilit
still, even now after 9/11 ?
Sick, a real sickness
Pretty Good analysis, Senator Gravel. Include a plan to force israel to quit the occupation and raze every settlement, or face losing all US financial and diplomatic support, and You have my vote.
i wish gravel were president right now.
Senator Gravel,
You are absolutely correct in your assertions, and one would hope the world would listen to your sage advice, and follow through with an independent investigation of events of September 11, 2001.
Yet you know that, instead of doing whats right, this administration will do anything to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, or inactions.
Rather they will attack you for "opening closed wounds", for "hating America", and for "appeasing the enemy". You will be characterized as a "liberal", a "pacifist like Chamberlin", and/or a "moral revisionist".
The media will have their feeding frenzy, and the mass asses will be dumbed-up, hyped up, and appropriately outraged in their stupidity. And all will go one as it has for the last 6 1/2 years.
A sad, pathetic series of lies.
Yet you, among all of us, will have the right to claim that you took a stand, and tried to do what was right. For that I applaud you sir.
A single voice that consistently speaks truth to power.
Which is, unfortunately, the biggest reason Mike Gravel isn't taken seriously in his bid for the White House.
And that should illustrate to most of us the depth of the fracture between our government system and good common sense.
I take Mike seriouly. He is in all the debates and usually in the polls afterward wins them. The listeners to the debate think he is serious.
There is a tipping point when popularity acclerates rapidly. Gravel is at such a tipping point. Lets give him our support and see how far he can go. Are we afraid of new ideas? Where is the American Spirit for change?
Give him some money - it will be the best political dollar you ever spend.
Eric Von Baranov
"A single voice that consistently speaks truth to power."
Keep doing it Mike. We are listening.
Thank you Mr. Gravel. Your post is like a breath of fresh air. Keep on truckin.
Peace.
Senator Gravel, Are you the only real candidate in the 2008 Presidential Election?
It seems to me that this is the case.
You have real courage to speak the truth to the people as no one else. You have my vote and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to have been able to make a small contribution to your campaign and will continue to do so in the days to come.
I hope the people can understand what your message is and not too blinded by the MSM feed.
I couldn't agree more. Thank you!!!
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
