Remembering the Dark Days of 9/11/01

There are only a few events in my life that I can remember with as much clarity as the events of Sept.11, 2001. I was sleeping at the time when I was suddenly awoken by my phone. I woke up, looked at my phone, decided that I didn’t want to talk on the phone and then I consequently rolled around and decided to go back to sleep. Then, just as before, the phone rang again and I imagined it was louder and more persistent this time. So, I got up grudgingly and then picked up the phone to hear my younger brother speaking rapidly without any apparent knowledge that he wasn’t making sense. When I got him to calm down from his breathless excitement, I made out that he wanted me to turn the TV on.

“You mean you woke me from sleep to ask my opinion about some TV program?” I started to ask rather angrily

“No! No!! No!!! A plane just flew into one of those skyscrapers in New York!!” he blurted.

There was a moment of silence as the words sank in.

“Yeah….” I stammered as I quickly jumped out of bed in shock and started to fumble around for my remote.

With that I bade him goodbye and then I knew this was certainly not going to be another ordinary day. I found my remote, turned on the TV and then I sat down to watch. So, I was still watching the first of the towers when I saw the second plane fly straight into the other tower. This was certainly looking like a big twisted movie. After about 10 minutes, the phone calls began to come in. Friends, parents, acquaintances—every one wanted to know exactly what was going on. I had a ready reply: “America is under attack”. It was truly heart-breaking to witness the grim scenes of 9/11 when Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked 4 airlines and crashed it into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killing about 3000 Americans.

This is perhaps the greatest thing that happened in this generation and I am sure you must have heard, read, watched and discussed the 9/11 attacks thousands of times, but it is important to ask ourselves if we have learnt anything now that we are once again remembering the horrific incident five years later. It is important to fully take stock of our position: Are we safer? Is the government doing enough to protect the American people? Has the war on Iraq helped our cause in the global war against terrorism or is it just an unfortunate misadventure draining our resources with no end in sight? Is it time to have a radical change in leadership? These and more are critical questions which we should do well to consider even as we remember the terrible catastrophe of 5 years ago.

Tomorrow, and for at least a week, you will be inundated with 9/11-related coverage on all media outlets; so be ready for it. But before you get fed up by the cyclical nature of this all-important discourse, I think you should spare a thought for the families of thousands of Americans who had their lives drastically and irremediably impacted by the terrorist actions of Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts. They truly deserve our well-wishes for losing those near and dear to their lives in so brutal a manner. Galvanized by our collective sense of patriotism and brotherly love, we should not only mourn the loss of these Americans, but we should honor their memory by collectively taking a stance that never again shall we let this be our portion. Indeed never again will Americans allow themselves to be so oblivious of the external world and the simmering sentiments of Islamo-fascism as to allow themselves be stunned by these actions. It invariably means that a critical assessment has to be made regarding the Bush administration’s foreign policy, and if there are shortcomings in American policy either due to this administration’s ideological and dogmatic posture, they will need to be addressed by well-meaning Americans propelled by a spirit of positive change and progress. Let the debates begin.

tags: sept11  world trade center  osama bin laden  alqaeda  

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