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We forgot our 9/11 promises

Memory of terrorist attacks fading, importance of goals diminishing

Friday marked the eight-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. On this important anniversary, Americans and most of the news media went about their merry way.

On the east coast, there was a heavy downpour of rain. It was as if Heaven itself was crying — not only for the loss of lives on that terrible day but also for forgotten memories.

If you had opened any newspaper or turned to any cable news channel, you would have noticed that there was little mention of the Sept. 11 attacks. Fox News was the only cable news outlet that covered the anniversary throughout the day.

There were too few articles in the paper. On Friday, there was silence.

It seems that we, not only as a nation but also as a people, have forgotten what happened that day and its aftermath.

I didn’t forget though. I remember walking downstairs ready to go to school. My younger brother had turned on the TV just as the second plane hit the south tower. I was in eighth grade and I remember the mood throughout the day. We weren’t allowed to watch the events, but we were updated when the Pentagon was attacked, when United 93 crashed and when the towers fell.

I woke up that day, as did the rest of America. The only difference is when most of America chose to go back to sleep, I stayed awake. This is why I joined the world’s finest military and I proudly serve.

Judging by Friday’s coverage — or the lack thereof — America has forgotten. We don’t remember that we boldly declared, “Never Forget!”

Every house, every building, every car, every business hung an American flag. People went back to their places of worship to find answers. Though we did not expect it, the American people quickly recovered. We were resilient.

That day, we ceased being White-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans or other hyphenated Americans. When we realized that “freedom itself was attacked,” we all united as Americans.

That day, those terrorists weren’t targeting the rich or the poor. They didn’t target the Christian, the Jew or the Muslim. They didn’t target a specific race. They didn’t target any specific socio-economic class. They didn’t target. They murdered 3,000 Americans. We seem to have forgotten that part as well.

Believe it or not, we’re still at war. We’re still fighting in Afghanistan, where the war originated. We still haven’t captured or killed Osama bin Laden.

Friday, President Barack Obama commemorated the anniversary by laying a wreath at the site of the Pentagon attack. Vice President Joe Biden held a ceremony at ground-zero.

Eight years after the attacks, ground zero is still aptly named and it’s still only a hole in the ground. No progress has been made even though there were grand designs to construct the Freedom Tower.

Eight years later, there is no Freedom Tower being built. We’re not even going to call it the Freedom Tower anymore, instead choosing the name “One World Trade Center.” Why?
Apparently we thought we might offend someone with the original name.

Who in the world would be offended by the term “freedom?” People from all around the world risked life and limb to come to the U.S. because of freedom. If you’re somebody who is offended by freedom, you have no business in this country.

We should build that Freedom Tower and build it now. We should still call it the Freedom Tower and when it’s completed, hang a big banner across the building that’ll read, “We dare you to hit us again!”

We don’t want to offend anybody, though: Our Homeland Security secretary now calls terrorism “man-caused disasters.” The War on Terror is no longer the War on Terror: We call it “overseas contingency operations.”

In his low-publicized speech marking the occasion, Obama said, “Let us renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act and who plot against us still… In pursuit of al-Qaida and its extremist allies, we will never falter.”

I wholly agree with this statement.

I do, however, think it’s empty rhetoric from Obama.

How can we renew our resolve when instead of fighting a war, we waste time on terrorists’ Miranda Rights? How can we pursue al-Qaida when the only government spending Obama has cut is defense spending?

Before I get accused of politicizing this event, let me remind you that the Democrats politicized it long before. Obama’s former pastor of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright, said of the 9/11 attacks: “America’s chickens have come home to roost.”

Sen. John Kerry said that our soldiers “were terrorizing women and children… in the dark of night.” Obama said that we “air-raided villages and killed civilians.”

We have forgotten what happened that day and we have forgotten the type of evil that exists in this world. We keep saying that this is the post-9/11 world, but our minds are still in 9/10 mode.

I noticed that we started to forget when school children weren’t being taught about what happened. When I was a tutor, I asked one of my students if he knew what happened on 9/11. His response was, “No, who cares?”

Perhaps you should all dust off your “Never Forget” signs to remind not just your neighbors but yourselves of the war we are still in the midst of.

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