Perspective from Europe : strong mixed emotions about 9/11 & the 5 years

[BelgianMadCow]

Yesterday evening on belgian state television : 9/11 documentary in the programme Panorama. The synopsis is as follows :
""9/11: What we weren't allowed to see". The facts that this CBC Canada documentary exhibits are stunning. The american authorities have failed on every level in the hours preceding the 9/11 attacks and those that followed."
It had nothing new to me. My wife, who has had to listen to my rants for a couple of years now, was schocked, and indeed, stunned.

This morning I loafed through a random regional paper in Germany while waiting at a customer's reception desk.
On page A1, it said "Angela Merkel critical of US on 9/11 anniversary". She is no lefty pinko commie, quite the opposite. Look at all the capital Bush*co has squandered since 9/11...
I found a source for her statetements, it's a dutch article, of which I have translated the first two paragraphs.

(Novum/AP) - The German chancellor Angela Merkel has set the tone for the worldwide rememberance of the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, using veiled criticism on the American foreign policy. Merkel emphasized , during a summit of EU and Asian leaders in Finland, that respect for human rights and other cultures cannot be forgotten during the international war on terror."
Merkel pointed out that the attacks on New York and Washington have caused immense pain and suffering, but stressed that, in combating terrorism, the end does not justify the means. On sunday, she strongly criticised the secret CIA prisons used for interrogating terrorism suspects.
http://www.elsevier.nl/nieuws/laatste_24_uur/nieuwsbericht/asp/artnr/114520/

If you are scanning my post, don't miss out on this : the summary on the evening radio news (state radio, has well over 50 % of the audience)

Americans today are remembering it has been exactly 5 years since 9/11.
On that fateful day, almost 3000 lives were lost as highjacked planes were flown into several buildings and the ground.
Immediately thereafter, US president Bush declared "we will get the folks who commited this act"(including excerpt from his speech that evening)
That evening , Bush wrote down in his agenda "this is my Pearl Harbour".
The US started a war in Afghanistan to eradicate Al Quaeda and the Taliban.
To this day, Osama Bin Laden remains a free man. He was not apprehended at the start of the war and not at Tora Bora later on either.
In 2003, Bush decidced to attack Iraq, based on the false pretense (sic!!!!) of a link between Iraq and 9/11.
On 9/11, the world changed. Since then, over 65000 civilians and 3000 men and women in uniform were killed. Al Zawahiri, one of Osama's lieutenants, made a video message recently.
Since 2001, at least three major attacks occured around the world. (unspoken point made : the war on terror has failed)

Also on this radio news : Dutchman Mr De Vries, european antiterrorism czar, says the only way out is by stopping radicalisation of Muslim youth. He also says the majority of muslims do NOT want their faith to be highjacked by the extremist elements.
I think this is sound advice for both sides...

This evening, News Magazine "Ter Zake" on national television : the American ambassador is GRILLED and I mean grilled in prime time by the anchor. The ambassador tries to reiterate all the old talking points but is taken seriously aback by the followup (gasp!) questions. In the end, he can no longer face the questions and resorts to blabbering memes.
One example :
Q : Do you not think the war in Iraq, started on false premises, and the inhumane treatment in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo incites violence in muslims all over the world?
A : You know, they were already violent before the war.

This evening, as my wife swaps channels to look at "Lost" on the commercial channel VT4 (owned by SBS), it is preceded by a commercial.

"The Path to 9/11"...

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! :argh:

I was ready to trash my TV (which I'm thinking about anyway) but made this post instead. I hope it brings you some perspective.

As a final thought, I want to offer my sympathy to everyone in the US and in the world who has been touched by 9/11 or its aftermath. I hope we can all learn to respect differences of culture and to settle our differences in a civilised way as we continue the War for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité.

:rant:
bmc


edited for spelling and grammar that's still lousy, I know.

[snappyturtle]

1. Thank you. I think you're being very generous

in hoping we can learn to respect differences of culture....that's the whole problem....seemingly, we (US) cannot! Personally, I'm hoping we can kick this administration out and start over.

[BelgianMadCow]

2. Europe is rooting for you, that's for sure

one the kicking out bit that is.

I know i sounded optimistic. I am not, really. Over here as well, the premise "9/11 chnged the world" has taken hold too. A couple of relatively smll shootings with muslim perpetrators were totally overblow and degraded the debate considerously the Bush (TM) Black and White.

But I hope nevertheless.

[Karenina]

4. K&R

:kick:

[snappyturtle]

3. I suppose you've viewed this post, if not I recommend it.

Looked what the U.S. could have built on! Instead, we slapped the kind hands extended to us and created hatred.

Get some of your friends to post here at DU.....we need more European input. And, thanks for not totally giving up on us.

Believe it or not, there are many in America who have voiced that we could have done so much with the money we've spent on war to help the world. Hopefully, this Fall elections, I'm voting today in the Minnesota primary, will help stem the tide of the evil in our country......permanently.


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