I commented on Citizen of the Month's blog yesterday about the photos he had posted, and feel I was taking up valuable space as a commenter, so should instead have a diatribe on my own blog. I also don't think I did a very coherent job of explaining where I was coming from in my comment. So here goes...
I can't stand Bush. I think he frenzied up and fear-mongered the U.S. and misled Tony Blair all for his personal gain and the financial gains/protection of his cronies. I think there are so many other injustices and travesties in the world, why pick this one? My theory is, because it suited Bush, not because it was the worst injustice at the time on our planet.
I like the images that Neil posted and think they were very poignant and was not trying to imply that the images did not work for me. I was just commenting that I personally find it weird that a lot of people still equate 9/11 with the reason we invaded Iraq the second time. It really was kind of non-sequitor to what Neil was posting. I wasn't finding it weird that Neil had put them up. We did also invade Afghanistan after 9/11, and I think invading Iraq took resources away from Afghanistan (not military, but more humanitarian). It was trying to do too much at once. So, from the images Neil posted, I admit I was automatically assuming that he was equating 9/11 with Iraq, but I don't really know that for sure as we are still in BOTH Afghanistan and Iraq 5 years after 9/11. I don't really know how I feel about the fact that we did invade Afghanistan after 9/11. Part of me thinks that it's wrong to blame the country of Afghanistan for Al-Quaeda, and I don't know what the other part of me thinks--I'm not well-enough versed on the subject.
I mentioned a story on NPR that I heard, and then topically there was another one today that discussed how many Americans still think Saddam and 9/11 are connected.
And just to be clear again lest someone think I'm trying to minimize what happened during 9/11, I do think that 9/11 was an absolute tragedy. I had family and friends living in NYC at the time, I was in Santa Barbara at the time, and had myself flown the very same flight from Boston to LAX quite a few times before the tragedy. I count myself EXTREMELY lucky that nobody I knew personally was killed that day, because it was very likely. I knew of plenty of cases of people missing or assumed dead that were only 1-degree of separation from me. I was really shaken and emotional and stressed out for a while after 9/11. It definitely affected my own psyche. However, I only ever blamed the terrorists Al-Quaeda, and never the whole country of Afghanistan, and certainly never Saddam Hussein (even though I think he IS a despicable and evil human being) or the country of Iraq.
Another point I'd like to make, if anyone is wondering (and well, it's my blog so I can say whatever I want!) is that although I will not ever see the reason why the U.S. and UK went into Iraq and do not think war is ever the answer, I do believe that once we were/are there, we have to be supportive of the actual people there. The Ruggedly Handsome Husband is after all an ex-Royal Naval officer! I would NEVER want what happened to Vietnam Vets to happen to Iraq War vets--the blaming of the war on the poor puppets fighting it.
I moved to England in May 2002. Ruggedly Handsome Husband was in the Royal Navy. The Western world was still reeling from 9/11. Fear mongering was rampant in the U.S. by both Bush and the press. I felt the British press was much more balanced and not as sensationalized. But as an American living abroad, I had to endure what every American living abroad can relate to, that a lot of people think that because you are an American, you automatically support the views of your president and other politicians.
I endured many instances of people assuming first and me then explaining otherwise. I endured all kinds of other stereotypes about Americans as well, that I had to dispel. It was not always fun, and it was not always from the people I expected it to be from (some being quite well-educated and/or quite nice people).
I was with Ashbloem on the first anniversary of 9/11 when we went to a chapel in central London. We also witnessed people blatently not observing the moment of silence on the streets of London. Around those days, we also went to bookshops where we heard authors speak about "Why the World Hates America" and I was confused as to whether I was offended or not--because I wasn't sure if they were attacking Americans or just attacking the politics and actions of the country as a whole. It was a weird time for my expat friends and me--sometimes needing to defend our Americanism, other times agreeing with the criticisms, other times not sure if the person was attacking us personally or not.
I think we need to have a plan for getting out, because frankly this is turning into another Vietnam and we should be learning from history.
Anyway, I hope that explains what I meant in yesterday's comment on Citizen of the Month, and I apologize to Neil if it came out differently than I intended! Thanks for the topic, Neil!
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