9-11 Ten Years On.

There are many emotions with the tenth anniversary of the worst attack on our country. Some want to forget, having seen the horror so many times. I never want to forget, nor forgive, nor excuse, nor try to understand. There is nothing that can ever justify what was done on that day. It wasn't poverty, it wasn't oppression, it wasn't any logical explanation that caused nineteen hijackers who only wanted to kill as many people as they could. That was their goal, and they achieved a majority of their objectives. But the answer to their barbarism is to remember the best of our own humanity. Remember that many of the victims were those who were rushing into the buildings while others were rushing out. Remember that the intended victims of Flight 93 were instead the last line of defense in this attack. Those heroes will never be forgot. But we also need to remember those who exercised the hardest choice of all. Shortly after the attack on the World Trade Center Towers, it became obvious that people were trapped above where the planes struck. Some images of that time include people waving out of the gash in the buildings, seeking help which would never come. But the thing that I remember most of those who were trapped were the ones who when confronted by the choice of burning to death and ten seconds of falling to a horrible death chose the latter. That is a choice that no one should have to make, and the bastards that flew those planes forced that choice onto innocents who had never done them any harm. Afterwards, the pictures are still being scrubbed. Some say that the images of the jumpers is just too horrible, and that it will only inspire rage. And I would agree with them. But to sanitize by removing those images is to deny those who had to make that choice, the respect for their awful choice.

We will never know who that man was, but to pretend that he doesn't exist is almost as serious crime as what caused him to have to choose. Will the image inspire hatred and fear? Probably, but also justifiably. The people who proclaim that their religion authorizes just this sort of thing, are not people worthy of any consideration. They need to be stopped by any means possible from ever doing anything that would force one more innocent to have to make the terrible choice that this man did. Never Forget.