2008 Woodie Awards
Recovering democracy before the recurrence of 9/11
Daniel Black
Issue date: 9/14/06 Section: Opinion
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This past Monday our nation's collective memory recalled the events of five years ago and wept, once again, for those no longer with us: the 2,819 victims of the September 11th attacks. On the forefront of our minds were the families, the friends and acquaintances of the dead, the far-reaching and deep-cutting injuries the tragedy has inflicted, and undeniably the bewilderment of how these past events inform future decisions. All these facets of mourning are important, and I am proud to say that it appears they are all remembered.
To the dismay of numerous concerned citizens, however, this process of mourning has bred much disagreement, and subsequently discontent and disposition, with regard to proper responsive action. I believe these disputes stem from the vastly different ways in which the events themselves have been interpreted which worsens when these interpretations are not even discussed. On account, I will offer my interpretation in as simple and concise of terms as possible.
Actions of 19 terrorists on that day, 5 years ago, gave birth to an American child, abstract and intangible, that has been developing into maturity every day, ever since; this child we shall call Conflict. Upon our child's fifth birthday this past Monday, I ask for I am deeply concerned, how has this child been nurtured? As Conflict lay in the cradle, just days/weeks after birth, what decisions has America made to affect the course its life would take? Many choices were made quickly, as time is demanding in the phases of infancy, but were these decisions well-reasoned? I fear those decisions were not, and as critical periods of development are rapidly slipping into memory, I fear we see not justice but hypocrisy in the rearview, and the rest of the world sees it as well. In trying to crush tyranny we have dispatched tyranny, and if we have adopted the methods of our adversaries then we have adopted the identities of our adversaries. Said Justice Robert Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States in the Nuremburg Tribunals against Nazi war criminals, "If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us... We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well." Though aged now over a half-century, these words carry every ounce of significance today that they did the moment they were spoken. Do you think history will distinguish between the actions of flying planes into skyscrapers and of mobilizing the most powerful military machine the world has know in order to highjack and kamikaze the humanity of an entire foreign nation?
To the dismay of numerous concerned citizens, however, this process of mourning has bred much disagreement, and subsequently discontent and disposition, with regard to proper responsive action. I believe these disputes stem from the vastly different ways in which the events themselves have been interpreted which worsens when these interpretations are not even discussed. On account, I will offer my interpretation in as simple and concise of terms as possible.
Actions of 19 terrorists on that day, 5 years ago, gave birth to an American child, abstract and intangible, that has been developing into maturity every day, ever since; this child we shall call Conflict. Upon our child's fifth birthday this past Monday, I ask for I am deeply concerned, how has this child been nurtured? As Conflict lay in the cradle, just days/weeks after birth, what decisions has America made to affect the course its life would take? Many choices were made quickly, as time is demanding in the phases of infancy, but were these decisions well-reasoned? I fear those decisions were not, and as critical periods of development are rapidly slipping into memory, I fear we see not justice but hypocrisy in the rearview, and the rest of the world sees it as well. In trying to crush tyranny we have dispatched tyranny, and if we have adopted the methods of our adversaries then we have adopted the identities of our adversaries. Said Justice Robert Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States in the Nuremburg Tribunals against Nazi war criminals, "If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us... We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well." Though aged now over a half-century, these words carry every ounce of significance today that they did the moment they were spoken. Do you think history will distinguish between the actions of flying planes into skyscrapers and of mobilizing the most powerful military machine the world has know in order to highjack and kamikaze the humanity of an entire foreign nation?
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