Sept 11

Last week I scheduled a conference call for today, Monday September 11 at 1pm and it was the first time in 5 years that I said "September 11" and it didn't immediately evoke memories of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I still have mixed feelings about the reported facts of the events that day and my political views are usually doing a tap dance out in left field so I'll do my best to be semi-neutral. (Although I doubt too many right-wing extremists visit this blog on a regular basis). So, in honor of this day, let's remember:

• The estimated 2,973 innocent people who lost their lives in the attacks on New York and in my neighboring town of Arlington, VA.
• The 2,666+ members (number as of last Friday) of the US military and 30,000 Iraqi troops killed since March 2003 by President Bush's regime in Iraq.
• The 272 American and almost 9,000 Afghan troops that were killed during the invasion of Afghanistan shortly after Sept 11, 2001.
• And let's especially remember the 41,000+ (reportedly in upwards of 222,232) Iraqi civilians who have been killed since the invasion and the 3,100+ civilian deaths that occured in the war against Afghanistan from October 7, 2001-March 2003.
• I'd love to be able to apologize to them and let them know that not everyone in the US fails to value their life as much as we value ours.
• Here's a little math quiz- who killed more people...the "terrorists" or the US actions after 9/11? Survey says: "the US." So does that make the US a terrorist? Just asking.
• Here's a fun fact: the "WAR ON TERROR" after Sept. 11, 2001 has killed more people than ALL TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE WORLD COMBINED SINCE 1968. You can do with that what you like.

I admire CBS for showing a 9/11 documentary that featured only real footage taken inside the World Trade Center by brothers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, French filmmakers who were working on a documentary about New York City firefighters and accidentally caught gripping scenes of the World Trade Center collapse. I'd like to praise the makers of Loose Change, a 9/11 investigation documentary. While I don't necessarily know if I believe in all of the "conspiracy theories" surrounding 9/11, I appreciate people who think outside the box...and by box I mean television and other mainstream media. Finally, I’m going to use this opportunity to criticize other networks such as ABC for the dramatization of 9/11. I'd also like to condemn certain movie studios and authors for the fictionalized dramatization of 9/11 for profit. It's sad that they lack the creativity to develop their own entertainment cash cows. Dramatizing the deaths of others for profit is beyond tacky, it's disgusting. So, until the next anniversary...The End.