Questions on 9/11
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Questions on 9/11
So much remains unanswered — and maybe unanswerable
September 11. An immense tragedy. An inflection point. A moment of heartbreaking “what ifs.”
Despite the 22 years that have elapsed, we still have countless questions with no simple or fully satisfactory answers.
At the time, we promised ourselves that we would “never forget.” Have we kept that promise?
When we do remember, how do we honor the loss and sacrifice?
Were we strengthened by our response?
Did we become more unified?
What about the wars that followed — Afghanistan at first, but also Iraq, and an amorphous global war on terror? Have they ended? What was gained? What was forsaken?
Does this date still reverberate as it did in the years immediately following?
Do you see it approaching on the calendar and take note?
What do you remember of the day itself?
What have we forgotten, individually and collectively?
How do we teach the story to the millions of Americans born after it occurred?
How do we reconcile what happened then with all that has transpired since?
For those living in New York — the epicenter — and those who have traveled there, how do you feel as you approach Ground Zero?
As we wind through checkpoints at airports, do we remember the antecedents of the enhanced security?
To all those who lost family members, how has the interceding time shaped your memories and feelings?
Have we ever gotten a full accounting from Saudi Arabia of what its leaders knew concerning the attacks’ financing and origins? If not, why not?
Twenty-two years is a long time. And we had no way of knowing on that day what would come next. There was a feeling of immediate uncertainty that, in a way, has never left us.
Are we more wary? More tentative? More bombastic?
Do we think of our nation differently? Of its politics? Its strengths and limitations? Its place in the world?
Did 9/11 change everything?
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Questions on 9/11
The problem I have is that we still have suspects at Guantanamo with no movement on their cases. I think we are holding them illegally.
What happened is a continuing tragedy, but America is not upholding the rule of law with respect to these inmates.
Anna Muelling
9/11 changed everything. We’ve survived and have unified against the awful devastation.
Then there’s true devastation accosting our country, five letters, and it’s not “STEAL” it’s TRUMP. This mongrel has trumped our democracy and is on the cusp of ruining us for history. An unhinged, moronic, psychotic individual, need I go on, that has commandeered other unhinged, moronic “servants” to his false narrative is more dangerous and more pervasive than 911. 911 was trauma, TRUMP is an insidious cancer of which there’s no cure.