LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman. Winner 2013 Webby Awards for Best Political Website
May 21, 2013

 Choose a size
Text Size

Trending:     chris hedges     economy     elizabeth warren     politics     robert scheer
Most Read

Lock Up Washington

Rise Up or Die

Revenge of the Bear: Russia Strikes Back in Syria

The Promise of a Courageous Al-Jazeera America May Be Fading

GOP Senator's Hypocrisy on Tornado Aid, Jon Stewart Hates Washington, and More

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports
 * NEW! * Lock Up Washington
 * NEW! * Too Soon to Tell: The Case for Hope, Continued
 * NEW! * Warming Climate Endangers U.K. Farming

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture
Act of Congress
Daily Rituals
The Girls of Atomic City

Digs

Truthdig Bazaar
Reckless Endangerment

Reckless Endangerment

By Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
$17.04

Elsewhere, California

Elsewhere, California

By Dana Johnson
$15.95

more items

 
Reports

Sept. 11: A Day Without War

Email this item Email    Print this item Print    Share this item... Share

Posted on Sep 7, 2010

By Amy Goodman

The ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States should serve as a moment to reflect on tolerance. It should be a day of peace. Yet the rising anti-Muslim fervor here, together with the continuing U.S. military occupation of Iraq and the escalating war in Afghanistan (and Pakistan), all fuel the belief that the U.S. really is at war with Islam.

Sept. 11, 2001, united the world against terrorism. Everyone, it seemed, was with the United States, standing in solidarity with the victims, with the families who lost loved ones. The day will be remembered for generations to come, for the notorious act of coordinated mass murder. But that was not the first Sept. 11 to be associated with terror:

Sept. 11, 1973, Chile: Democratically elected President Salvadore Allende died in a CIA-backed military coup that ushered in a reign of terror under dictator Augusto Pinochet, in which thousands of Chileans were killed.

Sept. 11, 1977, South Africa: Anti-apartheid leader Stephen Biko was being beaten in a police van. He died the next day.

Sept. 11, 1990, Guatemala: Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack was murdered by the U.S.-backed military.

Advertisement

Sept. 9-13, 1971, New York: The Attica prison uprising occurred, during which New York state troopers killed 39 prisoners and guards and wounded hundreds of others.

Sept. 11, 1988, Haiti: During a mass led by Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide at the St. Jean Bosco Church in Port-au-Prince, right-wing militiamen attacked, killing at least 13 worshippers and injuring at least 77. Aristide would later be twice elected president, only to be ousted in U.S.-supported coup d’etats.

If anything, Sept. 11 is a day to remember the victims of terror, all victims of terror, and to work for peace, like the group September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Formed by those who lost loved ones on 9/11/2001, their mission could serve as a national call to action: “[T]o turn our grief into action for peace. By developing and advocating nonviolent options and actions in the pursuit of justice, we hope to break the cycles of violence engendered by war and terrorism. Acknowledging our common experience with all people affected by violence throughout the world, we work to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone.”

Our “Democracy Now!” news studio was blocks from the twin towers in New York City. We were broadcasting live as they fell. In the days that followed, thousands of fliers went up everywhere, picturing the missing, with phone numbers of family members to call if you recognized someone. These reminded me of the placards carried by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina. Those are the women, wearing white headscarves, who courageously marched, week after week, carrying pictures of their missing children who disappeared during the military dictatorship there.

I am reminded, as well, by the steady stream of pictures of young people in the military killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and now, with increasing frequency (although pictured less in the news), who kill themselves after multiple combat deployments.

For each of the U.S. or NATO casualties, there are literally hundreds of victims in Iraq and Afghanistan whose pictures will never be shown, whose names we will never know.

While angry mobs continue attempts to thwart the building of an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan (in a vacant, long-ignored, damaged building more than two blocks away), an evangelical “minister” in Florida is organizing a Sept. 11 “International Burn the Koran Day.” Gen. David Petraeus has stated that the burning, which has sparked protests around the globe, “could endanger troops.” He is right. But so does blowing up innocent civilians and their homes.

As in Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan has a dedicated, indigenous, armed resistance, and a deeply corrupt group in Kabul masquerading as a central government. The war is bleeding over into a neighboring country, Pakistan, just as the Vietnam War spread into Cambodia and Laos.

Right after Sept. 11, 2001, as thousands gathered in parks around New York City, holding impromptu candlelit vigils, a sticker appeared on signs, placards and benches. It read, “Our grief is not a cry for war.”

This Sept. 11, that message is still—painfully, regrettably—timely.

Let’s make Sept. 11 a day without war.

 
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 800 stations in North America. She is the author of “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.

© 2010 Amy Goodman

Distributed by King Features Syndicate


New and Improved Comments

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.

By the Big Apple, September 8, 2010 at 6:04 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

911 should be a day of national uprising against the neocons and their dual Israeli cohorts, the real perpetrators of the attacks.
A simple amount of common sense and investigation should go beyond the obvious demolition of the WTC. The American psyche needs to realize who the real terrorists are. The axis of evil is located in NY, Tel Aviv and London.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 8, 2010 at 3:55 pm Link to this comment

Diamond,  if you get a chance

pick up this book “A ..W.E.B. Du Bois READER

edited by Andrew G. Paschal with introduction
by Arna Bontemps

Also it would help to read what Marcus Garvey had to say.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 8, 2010 at 3:42 pm Link to this comment

In 1950, an eighty two year old black man came from

Europe with a petition to deliver for the ending of the

Korean War.  His name was W.E.B. Du Bois. This old man

was immediatly arrested with shackles and chains.

There to picket his arrest was a very young negro singer

Harry Belafonte….1950.  Harry Belafonte went on to

have a rewarding recording career and admired all over

the world.  He in effect , was an American Ambassador.

We couldn’t have had a classier one.. He went on to

become one of Rev. King’s closest friends and helped

finance the civil rights movement.

Johnny Carson revered Belafonte so much, that when

Rev. King was sceduled to make the tonight show, Carson,

being the class act he was, took leave and let Belafonte

take his spot and do the King interview.  Belafonte

remains one of America’s best Ambassadors of peace,

civil rights , and civil liberties,  so I am fortunate

Diamond, that I grew up having Belafonte a part of my

life.  He will be there long after Led Zeplin, The Stones,

and many more artists become just a haze of a memory.

(thanks mom and dad)

Report this

By ofersince72, September 8, 2010 at 2:32 pm Link to this comment

Unlike most Americans, especially Democrat and
Republican supporters,  I have the capacity to remember
past yesterday.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 8, 2010 at 2:29 pm Link to this comment

I am glad you noticed! ! ! !

  It is those childhood memories that reminds me
  how pathetic Democrats are !!!!

Report this

By diamond, September 8, 2010 at 1:56 pm Link to this comment

And you left out one September 11 connection. September 11 1943 is when the first sod was turned to begin building the Pentagon. It’s actually the Pentagon’s birthday and is celebrated each year by the Pentagon. They seem to think that date is lucky for them and so far they’ve been right, since no one has shut them down or arrested the top brass.

Report this

By jaygarth, September 8, 2010 at 1:55 pm Link to this comment

Yeah , since no no legitimate or otherwise flight records can verify on board passengers . And since some of the so called hijackers are still alive and well. And not to forget that fbi.gov does not even want UBL for anything in connection with 9/11, oh I almost forgot the Iraq ‘war’ just another violent aberration of the political landscapes of losers .
In a nutshell , my humble opinion is that if any Muslims were on the flights ‘so called’ on 9/11 that crashed into the WTC they would have necessarily been dead-asleep…...

Report this

By diamond, September 8, 2010 at 12:36 pm Link to this comment

You’re wrong Amy Goodman: 9/11 is the day the war on truth began and as long as no one tells the truth about that day, the war on truth will continue.

Nice to see ofersince72 is still hallucinating about his days in kindergarten. ‘Mama look at Boo Boo’? The problem is that Mama and Dadda don’t look at Boo Boo. They look at a lie and pretend it’s the truth and that’s why Pastor Jones can burn his Korans with a clear conscience, thereby encouraging thousands of other nutjobs to do the same. The world looks on and feels a mixture of pity and horror for what America has become and dread for where it’s heading.

Report this
Shenonymous's avatar

By Shenonymous, September 8, 2010 at 5:58 am Link to this comment

September 11 ought to be made a national memorial holiday to
remind Americans about the horror men do to one another.

Report this

By clipper, September 8, 2010 at 5:38 am Link to this comment

All jumped on the band wagon to invade Iraq, and found out it was based on lies,out of revenge and millions died, were wounded, and will suffer mental torture for years. The same will be known about the ones who were really behind 9/11, and the world will think about why they jumped on the band wagon. Only now some are thinking about reviewing the catastrophe after having time to cover up the True Facts with the False. Muslims Blamed to pay the price out of revenge.

Report this

By bogi666, September 8, 2010 at 4:46 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The 9/11/2001 attacks needs to be referred to as the War of 9/11 a one day war. a staggering, incomprehensible defeat of the USG by 19 men some with box cutters. The magnitude of the defeat is almost unfathomable which is why the propaganda spin about the War of 9/11, its true context cannot be used. The Bush/Cheney response has been a 9 year temper tantrum against the world. That this is best described as a Bush/Cheney temper tantrum is borne out by their histories of cowardice, masked with belligerency, growling, sneering, lying, denying all responsibility, hubris, arrogance, disdain and abusing the American public while implementing draconian measures with a propaganda campaign and a complicit MSM whose purpose is to recite the government’s propaganda to create imagined fears and murdering 100,000’s of thousands mostly women and children. Bush honed his appetite for sadism while Governor of Texas by the use of the death penalty and scorning those who appealed to him for clemency.  This was to display his image as a tough guy and is reason enough to eradicate the death penalty nationwide as it is used by ruthless politicians and prosecutors by sacrificing people just to prove they are tough.

Report this
kerryrose's avatar

By kerryrose, September 8, 2010 at 4:13 am Link to this comment

It would do American well to realize that we are not the center of the universe, and that other countries continually experience ‘terror’ with the US often as the perpetrator.

Amy Goodman is a voice of reason and sanity because she does not put Americans on a pedestal, and consider us as ‘more human’ than the rest of world population.

Report this
PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, September 8, 2010 at 3:18 am Link to this comment

What rising anti-Muslim fervor?  Burning some korans?

I think there is a rising anti-Israel feeling as indicated by a continuing sucessful BDS movement.

No more Hebrew national hot dogs or Teva sandals for me.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 7, 2010 at 11:28 pm Link to this comment

The duopoly is the manager of the store for the
Oligarchs that own the Plutocracy.  Over the years
they have consolidated power while they were pacifying
you and keeping you diverted with the Dem vs Pub show.

  Ha ha ha.,, you got fooled again.

and the Maddow/Olberman vs   Beck/Palin show
is just another diversion for you fools.  Show me
where and how that there is a political process left in
America.! ! ! Who is your new Savior? Feingold, ha,ha,ha
again…and how about you conservatives, your new savior
is Palin? ha, ha, ha,  or Romney, ha, ha, ha,
You dummies have let them manipulate you with the politics
of divide, blaming each other…all you
liberals and conservatives are fools, you shouldn’t be
fighting, but organizing. dummies, dummies, dummies
keep your fingers pointing at each other while they
sip their scotch and waters laughing at you all.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 7, 2010 at 11:17 pm Link to this comment

If the public believes they can turn around a

forty year well thought out plan by the oligarchs, who

control all the money, HA HA HA on you. Here it is in
a very short outline.

The sixties showed how harmful a well educated and
informed public can be to their plutocracy so

1. seventies,  go after information services and
  dumb down the public
2. eighties….start busting unions and blaming all
  of Americas ills on them
3. ninties.  keep the money flowing for a while longer
  while they get all financial laws favorable to them
4. the 00s…get the public debt so out of control that
  they will always own the government.

Simple shit…a forty year plan that worked quite well
while they pacified the public.
If you believe that this is going to change by voting
Dem or Pub HA HA HA again.
RICH BOSS SMARTER THAN YOU.
Now you and the journalists are abusing the internet
by not using this tool to organize a peaceful revolution.
And soon , we aren’t going to have this tool and you are
once again going to be smacking yourselves in the face
for letting the last opportunity get away , once again.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 7, 2010 at 11:07 pm Link to this comment

Hey Amy,  did you notice how Scheer never once

mentioned the gross war budget when speaking about how

the Clinton and Reagon Administraions robbed the public??

This topic is off limits.

Report this

By gerard, September 7, 2010 at 9:32 pm Link to this comment

War is death.
Peace is life.

Choose life.

Report this

By Caroline Levine, September 7, 2010 at 8:45 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Would like to hear more of the US Gov’t back central Gov’t in Kabul. To mention corruption, without examples, is to ignite the smoking gun. Lets expose the corruption, see what our tax dollars are backing.
As to angry mobs in downtown Manhattan, this is what Osama bin Ladin wants. Part of the plan to create more extremist suicidal terrorists to help him with his religious war. The American public is being played, as are the Muslims. How Bin Ladin, must be grinning as he watches anti muslim sentiment grows in the US. Here is the religous war he wants.

Report this

By ofersince72, September 7, 2010 at 6:03 pm Link to this comment

Mama look at Boo Boo, dey shout,
dat is your government
Oh no, my government can’t be ugly so

Shut your mouth, go away

Report this
Newsletter

sign up to get updates


 
 
 
 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
© 2013 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.