I posted about what I was doing that morning as well.

I think it's interesting to hear the perspective of someone who is not from the USA on 9/11. I had never really thought about how it might have impacted the rest of the world.

*hugs* Thanks for the link hun. I agree with Kelly, it's always interesting to read about 9/11 from someone from another country. Terrorism is something that every country should be concerned about.

If there is a hell, I'll probably burn in it for what I am about to write....

When I found out about 9/11, I didn't care. All I was worried about was the next target and beginning my preparation for apocolypse. The time when all my training and wasted weekends would come to the true fruition of its nature. Alas, no further strike came. No, what happened is what I predicted. The American (EVIL) Gov't and the Media turned what was a tragic event and turned it into a goddamned circus, with this sense of fake revere that in any other situation would be called trite. Bush used 9/11 to make himself seem great and SINCE has continued to use it almost THREE YEARS LATER.

But I'm not completely heartless. I recognize that many people of all walks of life died that day in a most tragic way. Many everyday heros gave their lives to do what damage control possible. That does strike a cord with me, but make no mistake America brought the terrorists to our own door step by sticking our great big noses where they don't belong. What is worse is that we could have avoided all of the loss of life surrounding 9/11, if we had only been more active in peaceful resolutions to global conflicts.

Sorry, Goldelen. I've avoided the subject because of this very reason. Sorry, Goldelen's readers, I didn't mean to turn her site into a political debate. Sorry, America, I still wish I was from somewhere else. Any countries want to take in a poor cynical curmudgeon with no religious beliefs or acceptable social value?

Dial 1-800-WE-LUV-EV.

Don't worry, Ev, the folks who understand the implications of the attack will do what's necessary whether you know why they're doing it or not.

By the way, Ev, what did those school children in Russia do to deserve THEIR fate?

Goldie - Thanks, hun, you're a sweetie. And truth be told, I felt the same way about Bali. I didn't understand at first, but when I saw the pictures... it was all too clear.

9/11 affected all persons around the world . . . lord knows it seemed very surreal to me, at the time, when I first heard about it (on the radio on my drive into work that morning).

We were paralyzed at work that day. Thanks for sharing your story.

Harvey-

Those kids didn't do anything to deserve what happened. And the innocent victims in the Towers didn't deserve it either. But in the more abstract sense as an American, I have the right to question the motives of a government that makes a habit of getting involved in situations where we don't belong. To clarify, I don't feel that victims of 9/11 or any other terrorist attack are the responsible parties. I DO however feel that in the global sense America acts like a group of 5 year olds. And frankly, Harvey, I'm not sure you caught the whole meaning of my comment. We ASSUME as a country that our way is right and that there is no other possible way. Moreover, we have a religious fanatic running our country, who by the way, didn't win the popular election.

Goldie, I'm sorry for hijacking your comments with my bullshit ideas. Harvey, if you or anyone else want to continue this discussion, feel free to email me.

That's fine Ev, go for your life.

Just because I choose to keep politics out of my posts doesn't mean you shouldn't discuss them in the comments. i welcome robust debate, for all that I might seem to be a fence sitter ;).

Actually, I don't get involved in politics much, particularly american politics because I know little about it, and choose not to delve further.

Harvey: thanks for rememebring Bali! Even now it has become somewhat of a pilgrimage for the Aussies who choose to travel there. Apparently there are messages all over the ruined walls of sorrow and regret. The Aussie embassy in Jakarta was bombed last week also. It was mainly locals killed, very few Aussies, but the message was loud and clear to us - stop helping the war on terror, and keep your tourists out of our country.

Funnily enough, most of the Aussies stayed where they were in Indonesia over the weekend. The airlines offered refunds and changeovers but only about 10% took them up. I don't know if that's a cultural thing, a desensitsation thing or a denial thing. I can say that us Aussies take a bit to get rattled, so...

Evan - true, Bush didn't win the popular election. But the national popular total doesn't matter & never has. It's all about the electoral college results, both parties knew that going in, and designed their strategies around it. It's an odd little quirk that lets someone win without a national majority of the popular vote, but it *does* serve to keep the small-population states from becoming irrelevant.

And yeah, I'm missing your point. You're saying that the American government deserved to have its citizens killed, but the citizens themselves didn't deserve to die?

Odd combination of ideas...

Anyway, what, specifically, did America do to deserve this? I'm at a loss to come up with a crime for which this is a just punishment.

Goldie - thank YOU for having a Prime Minister with courage :-)

As I once posted at your site:

"Australians are strong, loyal, trustworthy, and fierce fighters. If for some unimaginable reason you don't own a gun, consider carrying an Australian in your holster instead."

"thank YOU for having a Prime Minister with courage"

yeah it takes a lot of courage to blindly follow an idiot to war for convaluted reasons ;)

(no offense, harv)

oh and i loved the whitehouse's response to the Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta too: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040909-2.html

(it's riiiight down the bottom)

PEACE

None taken.

Although I'm not sure what you mean by "convoluted".

Pretty simple, really. The murderous poison of Islamism must be destroyed so that the citizens of civilized nations don't have to live under threat from organized terrorism.

yeah lets kill those sand niggers for jesus!

dot dot dot

G - a very enlightened, sensitive and compassionate way of phrasing it. However, as long as terrorists and their supporters wind up dead or civilized, I don't care what you call them.

Evan - Um... the letter "S" in Morse Code?

No. I WAS speechless at G's comment. How blatanly racist.

I'm hoping he was being sarcastic. Really.

Of course I was being sarcastic. But that's my impression fo your hawks out there! I was trying to use humour to point out the stupidity of the war mongerers points of view... I thought we were still prentending this war was NOT about religious oppression and oil?

...and if u endorse killing "terrorists" Harv then did you endorse the 9/11 attacks? Coz the only country to ever be tried by the UN for STATE SPONSORED TERRORSIM is the good old US of A. So was it therefore justified to kill all those "terrorists" on 9/11? According to your logic, sure! Or don't you think for yourself, just follow O'Reilly and Fox News Channel?

Guys, I just want peace. I dont wanna turn this into a big shit storm. I just hate the idea of my country and the rest of the RICH, PRIVILEDGED WEST bombing the living shit out of a medieval country whose population had done nothing to provoke it. WTF aint the US chasing Osama? I know it SOUNDS kinda like Saddam.. but come on!?

Oridinary Iraqi's did as much to deserve their deaths as the population of the two towers. It's not fair for any innocents to die, regardless of their RELIGION or place of BIRTH.

It's 2004 guys, lets EVOLVE.
PEACE :)

Have been thinking about your "convert them or kill them" policy there Harvs... reminds me a lot of a policy a group had in the 1930s regarding ppl of Jewish or Slavic descent... what were they called? Oh yeah: The Nazi Party - but weren't they called 'The New World Order' for a while too?

The Harv/US's "lets kill everyone who wont change to be like us" opinon is one of the main reason every other country in the world is so wary of our Super Power. Makes you think "Who would Jesus bomb?"

Oh, gotta love the US. Seriously, you gotta, or they'll get you!

G - Thanks for being smarter and more eloquent than I could ever be.

I'm not advocating killing people for their heritage. I'm not advocating killing them for their religion, either. I have no problem with the majority of Muslims who just want to live their lives in peace.

But the ones who claim that their religion requires them to kill those who don't believe in Allah? I want them dead before they can do any damage. Or they can convert to a more civilized form of Islam. I don't care which.

I also don't care who kills them. It doesn't HAVE to be the US. If other countries would keep their populace of murders in check, I'd be content with that. But if they're not going to take the responsibility on themselves, then I guess it's up to the US to go in and kill the terrorists for them.

"I have no problem with the majority of Muslims who just want to live their lives in peace"

Yeah unfortunately, the US military is murdering this people en masse at the moment, under the pretence that they're protecting you from the Saudi Arabian hijackers of September 2001.... uh... you're still swallowing this!!?!??!

All the best to you Harvs... here's hoping your Government kills allllll the people you want killed, the way you want them killed and I sincerely hope their deaths make you and your family feel much safer and secure at home. I know I'll be watching the body count rise in sychronisation with my own feelings of smug self-satisfaction and security...

*kisses*

Wait... so you're saying the US military is deliberately *targeting* peaceful muslims?

Interesting.

Anyway, thanks for wishing me stacks of dead terrorist bodies. I'm hope they make a pile of them 1365 feet tall.

Twice.