National Tragedy

            Since this is the only forum I have for impressing my opinions on others, I shall use it for just that.  On September 11, 4 aircraft were hijacked and slammed into buildings of national importance.  Among those being the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  I awoke to a phone call from my mother saying that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane.  In my mind I invisioned, as most other Americans did, a small private aircraft out of control hitting a very large building.  I turned on the TV just in time to watch yet another Airliner impact the other tower.  Instantly I realized that something I hoped would never happen did.  Half an hour later the Pentagon was hit.  By now I knew that terrorism in the United States had just been taken to a whole new level.

            Since then I have watched the events surrounding this tragedy unfold.  Learning that the hijackers were trained here in America, and that they were Arabian.  I have heard people saying the most ignorant statements towards the Middle East, and can’t believe the discrimination abounding.  I watch as Firefighters band together to save one single life, and yet people grab whatever they have and go out lynching their Middle Eastern neighbors.  We are all Americans and now is not the time to make internal strife, now is the time to unite and stand together to show the world that we still are that sleeping giant that Yamamoto feared the Japanese awoke at Pearl Harbor.

            And we have been awakened again.  We will strike out and remove those people who have tested our resolve.  However, this simple attack will not remove the possibility for more terrorism.  The economic instability in the Middle East lends itself rather nicely to bending the way that money flows.  Usama Bin Laden Is a very wealthy man.  His monetary support helps keep the ruling Taliban in power in Afghanistan.  He is no longer welcome in his home country of Saudi Arabia, in fact they would behead him in the main square if he were to return.  Thus, the answer may be that we remove the people, and then instigate economic relief in the area, a more modern Marshall plan to rebuild the Middle East.

            I have heard even the news stations talking that these suicide attackers believe that their acts will take them to heaven.  This can’t be any further from the truth.  Islam is one of the few religions on this world that says that any person believing in any faith is worthy of heaven.  Other religions say that if you don’t believe one faith, you can’t go to heaven.

            Furthermore, I hear people ask the question: “Why?”  Well lets begin with a history lesson.  In World War 2 there is a strong belief that 6 million people of the Jewish faith died in concentration camps set up by the Nazi SS.  This led the western nations to form a new country.  The country was Israel. But the question is how did they form this new country.  Very simply, they forcibly removed the native Islamic people from the area, and moved them to what is now Palestine, and implanted a new Jewish government.  I personally think that that was a horrible action that the United States took, no person shall be removed from their home by force.  Even our news networks only discuss one side of this.  I mean we constantly hear about Palestinian suicide bombers killing innocent Israelis.  The Israel Intelligence Service, the Musad, have also killed many Palestinian people, and yet they stay well hidden behind the Palestinian attacks.  Not only did we forcibly remove the Muslims in the area, now we started giving money to Israel and telling the other Middle Eastern Nations to screw off.  Needless to say there is not much happiness connected to the United States in the area.

            I am a Muslim, and am deeply saddened by these thoughts and the ignorance that surrounds them.  I am thankful that I have had a good education and people who would answer my questions, so I am not as ignorant as the people I watch say things like: “They should clean up their own mess, why the f*** didn’t they already kill him.” Or “Why did they do this to us we have never done anything to them.” Or “Islam is a religion that tells its followers that to kill those who don’t believe in Islam.”  A Middle Eastern Analyst for CNN said one good thing “There is a great number of Muslims in the World.  And the number of those people who believe that they should attack America is a fraction smaller than the number of white people in Harlem.”

            But, before I am a Muslim I am an American.  I believe in this country and its resolve.  I applaud the way our president has handled the situation, and am amazed by the votes in congress (although who would really want to be the descending vote).  I am decidedly pro military and hope that by then end of the year we have troops in Afghanistan and remove the radical Taliban from power and bring Usama Bin Laden to his knees.  Roosevelt did not say: “We will bring Japan to justice,” He said, “We Will bring Japan to its knees!”