On the 5 year anniversary of the terrible attacks on our nation, and specifically the World Trade Center and The Pentagon, President Bush delivered a speech on national television.  The following are direct quotes from this speech.

1.  “America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over,”
 When I look at this statement, I scratch my head.  America did not ask to be attacked viciously and mercilessly.  We did not ask to be attacked using our own resources, yet it happened anyways.  Once it was over, there was nothing we could do about it.  No one can change the past; you simply have to accept it and move on.  So, what we wanted was retaliation.  Would it be in the form of a full blown invasion, a reconnaissance mission, a bombing, multiple bombings, nuclear retaliation, or a mult-tiered war?  The latter was our approach and we, as a nation, were appeased.  Even I, who is anti-war, begged for retribution.  Was I happy with the decision to go to war with Afghanistan, the known home of our number one suspect Osama bin Laden?  Yes, in a way, I was.  War is violent and never pretty.  People always die.  People always change in war; not just the ones directly involved, but also the ones indirectly.  My brother is now in Afghanistan, my 21 year old younger brother and it hurts to think of him in such mortal danger, but of course, I’m proud of his courage and fortitude.  But, I have to agree with the statement that every American wishes it were over.  I wish it every single day, and I wish that, we as a country could find some closure to this horrible tragedy.  I don’t think that day will come very soon.

2. “The war is not over — and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious.”
This statement is very true.  The war is not over, nor will it be for an unforeseeable amount of time.  I cannot let myself ever believe in the time tables laid out by our government because no one knows where this is all leading and how long we will trudge through this frightening time.  Politics are not always black and white, right or wrong; yet Bush has claimed that in this war, this war against not a particular person or group, but against an ideal, terrorism, something that has existed for many years, and dare I say, will always exist, just as criminals or any other group of dangerous members in our society, that in this war, the war on terrorism that either we will be victorious or fail.  That we will either eradicate terrorists hiding in every corner of the globe or we will be erased as a country and as a people.  That statement scares me; maybe I don’t have the guts and resolve that people associate with our President.  And in a way, I admire his strength and his iron will.  Why lead by conventional standards?  Why let others dictate your actions?  But, on the other hand, I can’t see how he can stand by that statement when he must know that this is going to be a catch-22.  An impossible conundrum; maybe I’m a pessimist; maybe I should believe as he believes that this feat can be accomplished.  But, there’s always something in his voice that shakes me, and doesn’t convince me that this is possible.

3. “Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone; they will not leave us alone. They will follow us.”
They don’t have to follow us; they know where we are.  We are a huge country.  We have a wealth of technological advancements at our disposal, and we have a massive population made up of nearly every race in the world.  These terrorists have so much to gain to attack us and hurt us and try to control us.  We know this and yet we stay.  I feel scared that our own homeland security is not rigorous enough; that we are not enforced enough.  President Bush declared that Saddam Hussien was not involved in the attacks in New York.  Then, why would the terrorists attack us if we left Iraq?  Just a simple question from an ordinary man.  I understand that now that we have taken over Iraq, set up their political system and elected them a new President, the time to leave would be soon.  But, we have pretty much seized this country, and it will not be an easy or smooth transition to leave.  (Editor’s Note:  According to the recent documentary Why We Fight, we’re making too much money by being in Iraq currently, and have no plans on leaving remotely soon.  In fact, we’re in the process of installing ten permanent army bases on Iraq soil. – Brian)  We have put ourselves in a tough situation; the Iraqi people, on the whole, do not want us there, but they have also come to depend on us to help their country move past the removal of their former dictator.  We have dug ourselves into a huge hole with this situation and I don’t see it clearing up anytime soon.

4. “The war against this enemy is more than a military conflict; it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century and the calling of our generation.”
I agree with a part of this and disagree with another part.  First, this is a very decisive ideological struggle for the 21st century.  This is a conundrum of all conundrums.  The attack on our home soil had enraged us, and caused us to take action, an action that now has trapped us inside a country that hates us and doesn’t want us there, but one that we can’t leave very simply.  We have not, as of writing this, captured our number one suspect for these attacks.  I believe if that happens, we will feel vindicated.  I am sure that Al-Qaeda has a very rigid backbone of people willing to step up and take Bin Laden’s place, but that would be the time to vanquish the whole organization.  If only for the sanity of our country, and the assurance of safety for us, the capture of Bin Laden would be a godsend and a sign of great leadership from Bush.  But, to say that this war, this struggle against a horrible plague that has taken the world, speaking of terrorism, that this conflict is the calling of our generation is so far behind the times, it scares me.  That’s what the generation growing up in the 60’s and 70’s were told with Vietnam.  They were told that the Vietnam War is the calling of their generation and would define them.  It was a complete and utter failure; not even a war, just a massacre.  A needless massacre of our future.  Now, Bush wants to claim that we have the same calling.  I say no, sir, we do not.  War is never the defining moment of any generation.  It has defined generations in the past, but it’s the climate of the world at the time that dictates war.  In our country right now, we are fighting an illegal immigrant problem at the same time that we are running a foreign country and trying to help another one, Pakistan, with their never-ending religious war.  These methods of action are contradictory and hazardous.  I can never deny that the 9/11 attacks were the most tragic, gruesome, appalling events that have taken place in my lifetime, and probably always will be but I will never accept that we must all live and die in a desert halfway across the world to defend our home.  I support Bush for apprehending a maniacal leader like Hussein, but I will never applaud him for his bungling of promising human lives in a war against no particular human or group.

5. “Our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you and we will bring you to justice.”
A courageous statement and a very empowering one.  When you read that and hear that, you feel, as a citizen of the United States, the greatest country in the world, that you are apart of something special. You feel that we have the will and the fortitude to be the smartest, hardest working and most productive country in the world, once again.  But, there is one flaw in this statement: our message to “them.”  We don’t even know who we are looking for.  We know our top terrorists and we know where they are or close proximity to, but it’s the ones that hate us that we don’t know that makes this war so blinded.  I fully support our US troops who are overseas (my younger brother included) and fully believe they are the best we could possibly have, and wish and hope that they do bring these terrorists to justice.  No matter how long it takes, he says, except in two years, he won’t be our President anymore.  That’s not for him to decide and maybe he likes it that way.  Maybe he doesn’t have the answers anymore for all of our country’s questions.  Maybe he never did and just faked his way through it.  I can’t deny that Bush is a determined man, but in two years, that won’t matter because it will be somebody else’s mess to clean up.  And I hope, for the sake and love of our country, that somebody will have the answers that our citizens are looking for.

Some Facts:
- At least 2,666 U.S. servicemen and women have died in Iraq.
(Editor’s Note: Over 48,000 non-military (women, children elderly, workers, students, etc.) Iraqi people have died during our military’s intervention.  To find out more information, please visit Iraq Body Count. – Brian)
- Congress has approved $432 billion for Iraq and the war on terrorism.
- The 9/11 attacks killed 2,749 people.
- Many nations that rushed to stand with the United States now accuse the Bush administration of failing to honor human rights, tolerance and diversity of cultures.

The following are my journal entries at the time of the attacks.  They were my real, true thoughts at the time and I have not changed them in any way.

Tuesday, September 11th, 2001- 7:10 pm
“America is under attack (join the club)”
- Today was a crazy day, not in my life, but the worlds’.  I went to Geology and some computer class not knowing what had happened.  I came home and right when I am getting ready to open my door, it opens itself and my little brother is waiting there to show me the TV.  I was blown away.  The videos of the footage and the people is just insane.  I couldn’t help but think that this was going to cause a war.  I was trying to get Steve’s VCR to work when I heard President Bush say he was going to hunt down the people responsible for this.  I envisioned myself being drafted and having to go to some foreign desert to fight a bunch of people I don’t know that were probably drafted just like me.  And we would kill each other.  War is absolutely ridiculous.

Wednesday, September 12th, 2001- 11:40 am
“Gruesome World”
- The times we live in reflect the way we have turned society.  We molded our world to be able to hold catastrophic events like these.  As I was reading some Nostradamus off of another journal, I was reminded that even back in the 1600’s, extreme violence was predicted as happening in the future.  It’s like we’ve always known.  There are a few things about the whole operation I would like to comment on.  I have heard that the terrorists branded huge knives instead of their trademark guns.  They supposedly took all the passengers back to back and hacked them to death.  In that situation, personally, I would have tried to do something.  A gun is unpredictable.  There’s too many variables with what it could do, but a knife is not.  In a combat situation like that, a knife is not the problem, it’s the hand it’s in.  I suspect the plane headed for Camp David that crashed into the woods may have been subject to such a situation.  Another thing is I have been against cell phones for a while, but after this situation, I am about ready to purchase one.  So many people were using them to feed info to the police and such in this great time of tragedy.  They have proven themselves to me.  I was awoken at 6:45 this morning by my brother who wanted a ride to school.  We listened to Howard Stern on the way, and of course they were all discussing it.  He said that they should bomb all the countries they suspect.  He said they should nuke these countries.  Robin agreed.  Howard pointed out how well behaved the Japanese are after Hiroshima and thinks the same thing would be applicable to this situation.  For us and our grievances, to kill the people responsible, no matter how injust it may seem, is the only thing that will give back any semeblance of justice.  But, you have to think about the long scenario here.  One attack leads to a retaliation, and most certainly, this country whichever one it is, is expecting such measures to be taken.  War is imminent.  I was informed last night that people have already started being drafted.  Gas prices have risen, and people are in a mad frenzy at gas stations around the world to fill up.  Life has stopped as we know it, yet I am at school typing this entry.  It’s a crazy world, but it’s good that education continues.  That I am happy for.  Also, my most sincere and most heartfelt grievances go out to the families of those lost in the tragedy yesterday.  I am deeply sorry.

- 2:07 pm
- My dad was on the phone with people yesterday, promoting Bush like always.  It’s too bad he didn’t have the balls and come on TV telling everyone that he was pissed off and was going to do something about it, quickly.  I think that’s what everyone wanted to hear.  I would have liked to hear it.

Thursday, September 13th, 2001- 1:42 pm
“Vaseline and wheel barrels (or something like that!)
- Anyways, we are still in the eerie loom of the tragedy that took place on Sept. 11 and I don’t think anyone will ever be the same again.  My geology teacher went on a tirade in class this morning, saying that she was sickened by the way people selfishly went after gas the other day.  I don’t know if I would say I was sickened by it, but who’s to say that those people also haven’t tried to help.  I called 1-800-GIVE-LIFE last night to see what I could do and there response was to give blood.  I am going to the hospital to see a friend of mine who works there and ask him where I can do this at.  Anyways, like I said yesterday, I had presumed that the plane wrecked in Pittsburgh was derailed by the passengers on board and nothing makes me happier to be an American when I hear things like that.  This is the time where courage and dignity and valor are needed, not simply given for self-justification.  I respect each and every person involved in this whole situation for their bravery and courage in dealing with it.  I have found myself engulfed in the news coverage several times yesterday.

Friday, September 14th, 2001- 11:25 pm
“Harmony”
- I also watched Smackdown, for which if you don’t know, is WWF wrestling programming.  They are the only form of sports that is running right now, and they were the first to congregate a massive audience of more than 13,000 people.  I thought it was a good decision, but it could have been bad.  It was a very tasteful program.

- I came home at 7 am, went to sleep until 8:30 when my dad woke me up and needed to go to the hospital.  So, I had to drive to Blue Ash to get him there.  He gave me the wrong directions and I was more than half asleep on the highway, and we ended up more than a 100 miles away from where we were supposed to be.  I was pissed.  He kept having me stop off getting him water, and cigarettes which I refused to.  We finally made it 2 hours later, after many wrong directions.  He went into this place, came back out and had to go to a hospital.  Got lost trying to find it, finally got him in, and I went into the gift shop to look around to kill time.  I found these pretty stones with uplifting messages in this glass display case.  All proceeds go to American Red Cross.  I had to have one.  I picked out a light blue one that simply said “Harmony.”  I didn’t have enough money for it so the cashier let me borrow some.  I really adore it and I have looked at it all day.  I think it will be a memento I have for many years and still love it.

- We were trying to sell donations at to Red Cross and I could not get anyone to donate.  I am going to give blood Monday.  My dad and I had an argument about this situation today, where he was like “There’s no point in giving blood, I’m sure they have enough, plus sadly, half the people are dead anyways.” I said “that’s not the point, it’s the thought, and it’s for the people that have fought to survive this week and anyone else caught in this tragedy.  I want to give and I would do whatever I can to help.  Again, all my prayers go out to all those affected by this tragedy, be it little or greatly, I want to offer my deepest sympathies.  Everyone is in my heart as I go to sleep tonight.  Just one word: Harmony.

Thanks,

- Jessie