What Should Be Said

[Mythsaje]

In the early days after the 9/11 attack, nearly the whole world stood by us in condemning the deed and those who had planned and implemented it. For a short time, the United States became not the beacon of hope it once was, but a shocked and injured entity with which the whole world mourned.

It could have been a watershed moment for us all. It could have been the impetus for a joyous reconciliation of all the mistakes we'd made as a nation, and given us the chance to rise above our admittedly rocky history to become something greater than we'd ever been.

We had the chance to show the world how strong America really was. How proud, and how open-hearted Americans can be.

Had we the right leadership on that day, we might have transcended politics, and repudiated revenge, and sought justice for justice's sake rather than for the sake of vengeance.

We'd been struck a telling blow and all around the world people cried out, angered and outraged at what had been done to us. Nations that themselves had felt the bite of terrorism offered both help and sympathy. People in such unexpected places as Iran marched in the street holding signs of protest on our behalf.

When we went into Afghanistan after Bin Laden, much of the world stood by our side. Few people objected when we took down the Taliban. We were after a criminal and the world believed we were doing the right thing. We were seeking justice.

But we did not have good leadership on that day. We had the worst kind of leadership, men who took the goodwill of our neighbors and tossed it away, who brought to bear upon their own people the psychological weapons of fear, hatred, and distrust, and turned our nation into an armed camp afraid of its own shadow.

You can't fight the tactics of terror with fear. You can only fight it with courage and pride. You cannot answer injustice with vengeance, but with justice itself. You cannot insult your friends and allies and expect to gain acceptance and support.

We had those things and they meant nothing to this Administration and the Republicans. They used what had been done to visit even more horrors on the American people. Threats of mushroom clouds and biological weapons, of unmanned drones carrying dangerous payloads, and foreign fighters swarming our shores with evil intent.

In the early days we had a chance to destroy Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden was the most hated man on Earth. But rather than respecting the goodwill of the people of the world, and using it to create an avenue for positive change, our alleged leaders took us all in the opposite direction.

There are those who blame all Americans for what has been done in our name. Not just over there, but here as well. But many of us never asked for this, never approved of it, and were never silent even as our armies were readied for war against a nation that had never done us any harm.

We were ignored. We are still being ignored. But we are not silent in the face of disaster. We are not rendered dumb by the threats of our authority figures.

It was not our idea to "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." We did not choose to fight this battle in someone else's backyard. The people who did that are as much criminals in our eyes as the ones who planned and executed the attacks that began this terrible chain of events.

Many of those who helped put these people in power realize their mistake now. Far too many do not. We knew that it would never work, and that it was a terrible error of judgment, a grave moral lapse. We hated what was happening even as it happened. And were powerless to stop it.

Those who condemned us for speaking out will never apologize to us. But we can apologize to everyone else for this mess. We can apologize to the Iraqi people for what has been done to them.

We thank you, all our neighbors who stood by us on that fateful day and offered us your support. We recognize your contribution even if our so-called leaders do not. We thank you more than we can ever truly say, and apologize on their behalf for their ignorance, stupidity, and greed.

I only wish it were enough.