Part 1: The Immediate Aftermath
"We are changed forevermore." Thus spoke Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) on that day that still defies description. He wasn’t alone in that assessment. David Payne, senior vice president and general manager of CNN.com, which is going to show a live stream of the day’s events beginning at 8:30 a.m. on CNN Pipeline, said, "In many ways and to many people, it was the day that changed everything."
Who can forget French President Jacques Chirac proclaiming, “We are all Americans?” One day later, in Le Monde, Jean Marie Colmbani, wrote an article entitled, “We Are All Americans,” in which she said, “In this tragic moment...the first thing that comes to mind is this: We are all Americans! We are all New Yorkers, just as surely as John F. Kennedy declared himself to be a Berliner in 1962 when he visited Berlin.” And she reminded the people of France that the United States was the country “to whom we owe our freedom.”
In numerous small ways, the world reached out to Americans. Rebecca Sulock, in her blog, wrote of being in Europe at the time, and what happened after 9/11. “The rest of the trip we were showered with goodwill and sympathy: Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and France. The old woman who ran a hotel in Florence hugged us close when we first arrived. ‘We are all Americans,’ she said, crying. A businessman trying to get home had to stop in Athens overnight and had dinner in a local taverna. When the owner realized he was an American, he told everyone to stand up and raise their glasses. The he said, “"Shoulder to shoulder, until justice is done."
Remember that day. Remember how you felt. Did the world feel like it had just shifted on its axis, and nothing would ever be the same again? In the days and weeks following 9/11, did your eyes tear up when you drove down a street and saw American flags on virtually every home? Were you an emotional leaf in the wind tossed between rage and fear, vengeance and compassion? Did you think you were changed forevermore? Had 9/11 changed everything?
So much has been written about that day that the mass of data, anecdotes, theories, and analyses threaten to overwhelm understanding. Amazon.com lists 208,149 books. The five-year retrospective has already begun, and it will continue for...well, as long as the American people have the stomach for it. The airwaves, print, and the internet are flooded with stories; it’s great news from their perspective—emotional, historical, traumatic.
Article comments
1 - Jet in Columbus
Tuesday Sept 11 2001 I was hauling a 5-gallon bucket of water through my living room to water my flowers out on my penthouse balcony.
Something made me turn on the TV and I saw the first tower on fire.
I just stood there, being an ameteur architect I wanted to see how they'd get the fire put out. They said a small private plane had hit the building.
Then the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower rigth before my eyes on live television and I knew it was no accident.
I stood there for about half an hour and my arm began aching.
That'w when I realized I was still holding the heavy bucket.
In fact I never left the TV and taped the whole day rerecording over videos I hadn't seen yet because I didn't have new tapes.
The flowers never go watered that day...
2 - Mayank Austen Soofi
Yes Mark, many of us non-Americans mistakenly believed, out of emotional outbursts, that we all were New Yorkers that fateful morning five years back. But American administration has changed so much since 9/11.
Besides, while observing the sentimental anniversaries of NYC and Washington DC, it will be wise to note that in its desire for revenge, American army, led by George Bush, killed many unknown thousands of innocent people (albeit unlike Al Qaeda, it was only collateral damage) in Afghanistan and Iraq. The world's biggest super-power was outraged and so carried out airborne attacks against the most pathetic, poor, and wretched countries on the planet. And for what - bin Laden is still free and Saddam Hussein (who like many friendly dictators was utterly cruel; but at least secular), it is discovered, had nothing to do with the former!
Can the world forgive the present American administration for its crimes?
3 - diana hartman
I am pleased to tell you this article is being featured in the Culture Focus today, September 11th.
Diana Hartman
Culture Editor
4 - SHARK
I remember 1974 -- waiting in long lines for non-existent, expensive gasoline;
everyone said, "We are changed forevermore" back then too.
Gotta run! Left my H2 Hummer running while double-parked.
5 - Nancy
Yes, the US administration - BushCo - is guilty of mass murder, of foreigners as well as Americans; but every Muslim around the world should be hiding their heads in shame today, because in the 5 years since 9/11, almost NONE have spoken out against the atrocities committed against innocent Americans (and non-Americans; there were all kinds of people in those towers that day), and I still remember vividly footage of Palestinian Muslims dancing in the streets in 'celebration'. After that, I no longer grieve for 'innocent' Muslim deaths; as far as I'm concerned, there ARE no "innocent" Muslims, as long as the Muslim world stays silent & refuses to condemn Islamic terrorists, or continues to support them & their kind.
6 - Mark Schannon
Mayank,
Wait until Part II. That's the saddest part of the whole story in some ways...I'm trying to keep this as unbiased as possible, but the Bush administration, through its arrogance and ignorance destroyed what was an opportunity to bring the world together. At least for longer than it did.
Nancy, I share your anger, believe me, but there were moderate Muslim voices. There were even condemnations of Hezbollah from the Muslim world, but we're making it harder and even dangerous for Muslims to speak out against the terrorists because we've created Terror-Central in Iraq.
In Jameson Veritas
7 - Nancy
There are plenty of western countries - like the US, Canada, France, Germany, England, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, & Spain for instance - where Muslims are perfectly free to speak out - IF they wanted to. And they don't. That tells me all I need to know about Muslims & Islam.
8 - Mark Schannon
Nancy, I wonder too why more don't speak out, but I can't allow myself to condemn an entire religion/civilization based on behavior I simply don't understand.
We are so hated around the world thanks to Bush and his Bandits, why would anyone stand up and support us?
I don't know. I just don't want to hate people I don't need to...shit, I don't want to hate anyone, but that's not possible either.
In Jameson Veritas
9 - Mistress La Spliffe
Nancy, those Palestinians weren't dancing because they were Muslims, they were dancing because they hate the United States for very political, immediate reasons that have more to do with living standards than religion.
And lots of Muslims spoke out against the attacks. The reason you probably didn't hear them is because it wasn't newsworthy. "Global Jihad" and warring civilizations sell more newspapers. Not to mention, get governments re-elected.
I remember back in the fall of 2001, though, being confused by the apologies of all those clerics and Muslims off the streets. I wondered, how can one Muslim apologize for the actions of another? Muslims as a group didn't plan and CERTAINLY didn't benefit from 9/11. That sort of mass murder is contrary to their sacred text. So why should they apologize as a group?
Did Christians apologize when the Branch Davidians set themselves on fire? Did mainstream conservatives apologize when that building in Oklahoma got blown up? Did all the British tourists who went to Brazil apologize for Menezes's head getting blown off in London because he was wearing a jacket on a warm day?
What do you want from the Muslims of the world? How can they help Americans deal with the pain of that attack? And why should they when most of them live in countries with their own, often horrible problems?
10 - Nancy
Then why do they shelter & support these terrorists - who as often as not kill fellow muslims, too? Why don't they root them out & hound them from their midst?
As for Islam, I've read multiple translations of the Qu'ran, and it constantly rails against Christians & Jews, breathing fire & slaughter. This is no religion of peace.
11 - Mistress La Spliffe
I know Islam isn't a religion of peace, I don't know why the terrorists aren't hounded out, Nancy. But it probably has a lot more to do with fear and helplessness than hate or inherent violence.
Think about the Taliban. The population, especially the female population of Afghanistan was miserably oppressed under them. The fact that it was a group evil enough to give amnesty to Bin Laden was the least of a typical Afghan's worries. But the Taliban were able to keep power for a long time because they had enough guns and men to keep the country stable after years of civil war sponsored by Pakistan, the Soviet Union and the United States.
People pay high prices for stability. Bush won the election in 2004 after the snatch that was the 2000 election because people wanted stability during uncertain times, right? And you guys didn't even have a civil war, sectarian violence or heroin-cultivating warlords to worry about.
12 - Joan Bias
Here's what the much-smarter-than-me Sam Harris says:
We've seen the occasional Muslim disavow the actions of Osama bin Laden, saying things like "Islam is a religion of peace," but this is not a sign of Muslim moderation. We'll know there are Muslim moderates in this world when they get on television and say things like: "There is much in the doctrine of Islam that should not be taken literally. It is, for instance unacceptable to believe that people can get into Paradise by killing infidels and dying in the process. In fact, we're not even sure Paradise exists. Nor are we sure that the Koran was written by the Creator of the universe. The Koran is an ancient book of religious wisdom, some of it applies to our modern circumstance and some of it does not." Find a Muslim who can talk this way, and you will have found a Muslim moderate. You will also have found someone who is guilty of blasphemy and liable to be killed in almost any Muslim community on this earth. This is the problem with Islam.
This is part of a Q&A on Harris' website, samharris.org.
13 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Sorry Mark, you're not going to like this.
IMHO, forget that second article you wanted to write and pick up your Bible and read the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). Long before Blog Critics or Tailrank, or MTV or even the Dumont Broadcasting System was around, there was King Shlomo writing in his bitter old age that, "All words are wearying, one becomes speechless; the eye is never sated with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing. Whatever has been is what will be, whatever has been done, will be done. There is nothing new under the sun!"
"We are changed forevermore?" Please! From a 20 year old, that makes sense. From you?
On 7 December 1941, a day that has not even been noticed by this last generation of mall rats and snots, let alone NOT living in infamy, squadrons of bombers from the Empire of Japan struck the Pearl Harbor naval base near Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii and in addition to killing hundreds, if not thousands of Americans, ruined my Aunt Kate's birthday. She could never really celebrate her birthday again because of that little picture on the calendar of the Japanese Zeros with the smoke rising in the background. You're older than me, Mark, you remember those pictures.
For a good part of her life, 7 December was a day of mourning. By the time Americans stopped mourning, she wasn't in the mood to celibrate birthdays anymore - she wanted to forget them. Maybe you know that feeling.
On my fiftieth birthday, two jets hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, where I was born and spent over half of my life, like two cigars tossed into a dart board, and knocked the two towers down to the tune of at least 3,000 casualties. So these days, I tell folks that I was born on 10 Elul, 5711.
Yes, your country has changed, and not at all for the better. The last time it was attacked like this, Americans kicked ass and didn't give a tinkers damn how many of the enemy died or whether they were men, women, children or "others." Today, a woman treats a few prisoners like she has seen submissives treated by dominatrices in a porn flick, and your whole country, led by a sex-crazed media, goes nuts on a morals binge. The last time your country was attacked like this, it went to war with the determination to win and to destroy the enemy, come hell or high water. It was led by a man who wore steel braces on his legs but had a steel trap for a mind. Now? Three thousand casualties in a military campaign, and your leaders wimp out like fools. Could it be that this is because the father of the fool who leads you is nothing more than a commissioned broker for your main enemy?
Those changes, Mark, did not take place on my fiftieth birthday, they have taken place over the generations that have made up our lives, you and I. What little spine your leaders may have had 65 years ago is gone. Forty three years ago, a man was killed in a convertible in Dallas. We all thought our lives to be changed. Now, who gives a crap?
The Seventh Day of December should still be a day of mourning, and a day of warning for the rest of the world, that your country will burn to nuclear ashes the country that dares to raise a hand against it. It isn't. Your kids do not learn history, so they do not understand at all. In five years, 11 September will be just another day on your calendar, assuming that the Christian calendar is still used then.
"A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth endures forever. And the sun rises and the sun sets - then to its place it rushes, there it rises again" (Kohelet 1:4-5)
By the way, Mark, even though it is 12 September in Israel, if you want to wish this young geezer happy birthday, you can - even though 10 Elul is 9 days past.
14 - Joan Bias
Yes, Mark. Never mind your puny "research" or "consideration of the facts" or "analysis of events." The words of a fictional king invented thousands of years ago are of course exactly right.
It's amazing to me that an intelligent person like Ruvy seems to be can be completely blinded by his stupid religious faith.
Faith: Belief without evidence.
This is what's killing us.
15 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Joan, your name fits you to a "t". One day you should take a course in reading comprehension. I wasn't talking about "my religious beliefs," I was talking about perspective. I'm not criticizing Mark's research or his analysis but his underlying theme. With time, all events fade, and making a big stink over being "changed forevermore" - or as Mark seems to imply in the comments, "having lost the opportunity to be changed forevermore" is belied and weakened when one applies the lens of perspective and time to the issue.
Most of the events that Mark lived through in his years in America, I lived through also. But of all of them, only one was a life changing event - the Six Day War in 1967. That was when I truly understood who I was. But it only merits the title "life changing" because I did indeed change my life because of it. Had I not, you would be hearing from someone using a different moniker in St. Paul. And whether I used the framework of the Book of Kohelet or a different framework to express my viewpoint, I'd still say the same thing.
16 - Mark Schannon
Reuven, happy belated birthday, you young geezer from an equally young geezer.
But, read part 2 & you'll see I respond directly to your objections. I've got to stop writing this "unbiased" news shit and say what's in my heart...or at least get a better balance. Bush and his Bushites destroyed an opportunity that comes once in a generation, if ever. The tragedy is beyond comprehension.
The problem is that the damn piece got away from me in terms of research and length. It was so late last night, I just couldn't write anymore, so I pretended it was a two-part story.
Joan, there are many times I agree with Ruvy even though there's a 60s pacifist in me who still wants to believe that human beings can someday be rational beings. The only way I could write this article was to focus on a narrow topic--how Americans have reacted politically to 9/11. It gets much more depressing in part 2.
In Jamesons Veritas
17 - Joan Bias
Ruvy, you can't possibly say whether or not you would "say the same thing," because your mind is twisted by your beliefs. The fact that you cite such evil BS as the Bible as support of your viewpoint is obvious proof of this.
Also, wait, my last name is Bias, like when someone's biased or something is cut "on the bias!" Wow, I never thought of that, and no one has ever brought it up. Hilarious and incisive.
18 - Joan Bias
Ruvy: "Forget that second article you wanted to write and pick up your Bible."
I must have misinterpreted this as meaning that Mark should forget that second article he wanted to write and pick up his Bible. Sorry.
19 - Mayank Austen Soofi
Nancy, I understand your frustration but is it really good to paint an entire community in one color? I know many Muslim people who were outraged by 9/11. Even Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria - a Bombay-born Muslim - wrote a wonderful story titled 'Why They Hate Us?' Yes, we have not heard many important Muslim leaders condemning these attacks. But not having heard is different from not having uttered. Nowadays we are so much at the mercy of big-time news organisations which have their own agendas. They are very good at selective reporting.
But again, it is a complicated world. And, like Mark, I do not want to believe that all Muslims think in one line. They they all support terrorists. I'm not being romantic. I personally know many Muslims and I have never heard them saying anything that suggest a support for people like bin Laden.
And remember: The present American administration is guilty of several crimes. (That is what I believe) but I do not blame American people for it. Even though the country actually re-elected him!
20 - Victor Plenty
Nancy is a bit batty about this subject, Mayank. It has been pointed out to her numerous times that many many Muslim leaders and ordinary Muslims have spoken out against terrorist attacks, from long before September 11, 2001 to this very day. Many Muslims in the West have condemned and disowned terrorism, and so have many of the Muslims in the East.
On this subject Nancy simply doesn't care about the facts. Sadly, she is not alone in propagating these falsehoods.
21 - Mark Schannon
It's not a matter of propogating falsehoods, it's that the media, for reasons I don't understand and please don't offer soporifics, doesn't give Muslim moderates fair coverage.
Given that they don't give Israel fair coverage, this is a great mystery. But if you get your news solely from the U.S., the Muslim moderates are virtually silent.
In Decaf Veritas