I think we make too big a deal about 9/11

[LeftInTX]

113. Sorry, I disagree

Pearl Harbor is also remembered and I've seen numerous specials on "The Day That Will Live in Infamy"

However they are different: Peal Harbor was not shown live on TV. It was mostly transmitted via radio and newspapers. Although there was footage, it's B&W and wasn't seen in masses until it was available at theater newsreels several weeks later. Pearl Harbor was an attack on our military. Aftermath: WWII


9/11 happened live on TV and we all watched it live. It happened to civilians. It was much more traumatizing to the public. As the saying it goes, "If it bleeds, it leads" Aftermath: A big f'ing mess

Shortly after 9/11 my dad and I had to run an errand together. I was yacking about 9/11. He interrupts and says, "We had Pearl Harbor". I felt like he was minimizing my feelings. He was just shy of 12 when Pearl Harbor happened and lived in Wisconsin.

50 years from now, 9/11 hype will die down. The aftermath of 9/11 is not the best subject of newsreels, yet the aftermath was Pearl Harbor was.

Believe or not 9/11 actually helped me be more accepting of Muslims. My family is Armenian and the Turks killed a bunch of our family in 1915. They killed over a million Armenians. I grew up believing that they did this because they were Muslims and wanted to rid the world of Christians and Jews. Years of stereotypes seemed to reinforce that belief: Plane hijacks, War in Israel (it was framed that the Arabs were the problem. Additionally, I did not know that many of the Arabs were also Christian), Sirhan Sirhan (well he was an Christian, but what did I know. I just thought he was Muslim), Iranian Revolution (I knew a lot of Armenian exiles from that one), the PLO, Lebanese Civil War (another wave of Armenian exiles). Our NATO agreement with Turkey made my blood boil. All through the 90's, I would write my congressman letters about Armenian issues and he refused to acknowledge them.

Before 9/11, I was convinced that Muslims and any other religion could not co-exist. My pre-911 attitudes about Muslims were like alot of people's post-9/11 Islamophobia. Immediately after 9/11, it was really sky high. I was like, "I knew it"

Bush did an excellent job of explaining that, "Islam is not the enemy". I learned more about Muslim communities and made peace with myself. The peace happened within days and I watched the memorial service at the National Cathedral. It was amazing how 40 years of my attitude changed within days.

Of course the aftermath of 9/11 is a different story and is very long, messy and horrific. We had to go after Bin Laden, but there was no reason to invade Iraq. Middle Eastern politics will always be messy and tribal. We need good intelligence, but I believe part of the problem was that in the immediate aftermath was the Bush admin tapped too many Christian Arabs as translators and advisors. He already had the Neocons on staff prior to 9/11. Rumsfeld chose to ignore the CIA in the aftermath. Dealing with terror is not solved via traditional war. We are not dealing with nation states.