Remembering a Tragedy

I would be remiss to let this day go by without posting a comment. September 11th. 9-11. The morning that rocked America. The day that changed the world.
It hardly seems like seven years has passed since that terrible day. I remember watching the second plane fly into Tower 2 on live TV. I remember parking myself in front of the television for two days. All those innocent souls that lost their lives… And I do mean innocent. They were just people at work. To this day, I cannot understand why the towers were the targets. And moreover, I cannot understand what this enemy wants.
I mean, if we were to go to the head of this organization and say, “You win. We give up,” what do they want? I mean they hate America but I bet they love our cars, our fashion, our movies, our computers, our technology, and our money. Or is that it? Is it the fact that they hate our success? I just don’t understand it. And I have never had anyone able to successfully explain it to me.
It is one thing to go to war with a country. It is another thing to target civilians. I just don’t see the honor in it and I certainly don’t see the strategy behind it.
I remember the fear and the helplessness in the days that followed. I wondered what would happen next. But then suddenly, as I drove down the highways, I noticed flags on cars. “God Bless America” on the portable marquee signs outside businesses. And all the anger and hatred that seemed to be consuming our nation was put on the back burner. It’s like in football. Everyone in that huddle all has the same goal: The End Zone. That is all that matters. It doesn’t matter how we get there, just that we get there. It is a unity that you cannot understand unless you have been in that huddle.
Suddenly, all of America was in our own huddle. Everyone was looking in the same direction. And the end goal, that end zone, was the same: Secure our nation, protect our people, and obliterate those responsible for the attacks. Apparently these guys never studied Pearl Harbor. A sleeping giant was awoken.
Today, now seven years removed from that terrible tragedy, it just doesn’t seem like we have come as far as I would have hoped.
I have often said that we did not defeat the Soviet Union through strength of arms. We beat them because their economy collapsed. Have you seen the Middle East? It is nothing but oil and sand. If we no longer needed foreign oil, their economy would collapse. How much do you think they would hate us then?
[Insert bad stereotypical accent here.] “Death to America!”
“Okay, Ahmed. We don’t really need your oil anymore. We’re gonna take all our money and go home.”
[Again, stereotypical accent] “Wait, wait, my friend!”
Yeah, watch those tides suddenly change. Hydrogen cars. Electric fuel cells. Wind power. Solar power. The time has frickin’ come already. Big Oil is a lumbering dinosaur that needs to go extinct. The internal combustion engine needs to do the way of the T. Rex. If we could do that, we could end the war.
Note: I said “end” the war. I did not say “win.” Because when it comes to war, there are no winners. We need to show our enemies that it was wrong to attack us. We need to show them that we are not “the Great Satan.” And everyone’s priorities change when you can’t feed your children. If you want to cripple an enemy, you cripple their finances.
Global warming is real. We are killing the planet. Maybe this is the catalyst we need to take that giant leap forward that will heal the planet and help unite us as a people. Here is hoping for a better life, a better society, and a better planet. My kids deserve it. Today, of all days, I remember. And on today of all days, I hope… I hope…