Through the miracle of print media archives, we see what Barry O really thought about 9/11 from a letter he wrote to the Hyde Park Herald, published one week after the attacks, via the New Yorker magazine. His opinions are clear:
- This was a "tragedy".
- We must "understand" them.
- They murdered 3,000 of us because they have an absence of "empathy". Not that they are evil incarnate, mind you, they just don't empathize with us.
- This type of act is not unique to radical Islam, the wise one Obama tells us. Perhaps in the alternate universe where Obama has dwelled all his life, it's only non-Muslims who wish to destroy entire religions or nations.
- And the cherry on top: Obama informs us that it's poverty, ignorance and despair that caused this. Translation. It's our fault for not sending them more money, and nothing to do with the fact that they are adherents of a belief system that preaches "convert or die". Never mind the fact that well researched articles have documented that most of the 9/11 hijackers, (who are currently being slowly spit-roasted in the 7th circle of hell) were middle class and well educated.
Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction. We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair. We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe—children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.
Posts
