Guest Post: Colonel Morris Davis
Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.
M-H
9/11 at 11: the lost United States of 10 September 2001
September 11, 2001 is a milestone date in history that nearly everyone living at the time will recall in detail for the rest of their lives. I will always remember sitting at my desk in my office at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, eyes fixed on the television in the credenza sitting on the other side of the room. I recall watching the towers fall and wondering how it would change America.
Like this 10 September, 10 September 2001 was a Monday. The only reason I know that is because it was the day before an enormous tragedy that is permanently etched into my mind, and that happened on a Tuesday. I went to the same office and sat at the same desk on Monday as I did on Tuesday, but I have no recollection of one day and a vivid recollection of the other. Even though I do not recall any of the details of Monday 10 September, sometimes I think about how America might be different if we could turn back the clock.
On 10 September, the US economy was strong, although it had begun to slow down after a sustained period of growth. The unemployment rate stood at 4.9%. We were paying down the national debt and there was a $127bn surplus for the fiscal year ending on 30 September. For some, concern about the nation’s debt focused on what might happen in a few years when the debt was completely eliminated and there was no longer a need for US treasuries, a key component in the world’s economy.
Worries about the consequences of a debt-free America evaporated soon thereafter. After tax cuts, two unfunded wars, and a near-collapse of the economy, US treasury department figures show the nation’s debt grew from less than $6tn in 2001 to nearly $16tn today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate has remained over 8% throughout 2012 after peaking at 10% in October 2009.
Rightly or wrongly, on 10 September 2001, most Americans believed their phone calls and emails were private and did not suspect that the government might be listening in and keeping tabs. If someone fondled your junk at the airport, you would expect to see the person again, this time as you sat on the witness standing testifying in his or her sexual assault trial. If the government was going to execute a citizen, it was assumed that followed after a trial and appeals in the courts of our judicial system, not a unilateral decision by a president that is immune from any review.
Back then, our most recent recollection of war was Desert Storm, a six-week campaign that ousted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait with fewer than 150 US military personnel killed in action. We watched on television as members of the Iraqi armed forces put down their weapons and surrendered by the tens of thousands, something they did in part because they trusted United States military personnel would provide them food, shelter, medical care and humane treatment.
Now, after more than a decade of non-stop war, in which only a small percentage of Americans have ever had any skin in the game, the public seems to pay little attention to the thousands of Americans who have died, the tens of thousands who have been injured, or the hundreds of billions of dollars spent overseas.
Public opinion of the United States tends to vary sharply among people in different countries, but one common trend is that America’s reputation has declined across the board over the past dozen years, even among America’s closest allies. A Pew Research Center report in 2000 showed the US had an 83% favorable rating in Great Britain. Today, it stands at 60%, up a bit from 53% in 2008. In Germany, the US favorability rating fell from 78% in 2000 to a low of 31% in 2008.
America has taken some of the shine off of that “shining city on a hill” Ronald Reagan described as the envy of the world.
Attitudes of the American public have changed significantly, too. A poll conducted by the Christian Science Monitor in November 2001 showed that two-thirds of Americans were opposed to torture. A survey conduct by the American Red Cross in 2011 showed that a majority of Americans, including nearly six in 10 teenagers, approved of using torture. Perceptions of what is right and wrong changed when fear took hold in the Home of the Brave.
There is ample room for debate about how and why America got to where it is today, but as election day approaches on 6 November, Americans need to ask themselves about the direction they want the nation to move in the years ahead. Do they want the future to be more like the America that existed on 10 September 2001 or are they satisfied with the America that emerged after 11 September?
Is America better-off now than it was 11 years ago?
Yes, sir, everything changed on that day;
and not only in the USA, but in a great part of the world.
We hear people’s call: “Take America back.”
We can never have it back, never. Changed forever.
My heart aches when I think about all the freedom children of today won’t
experience. Fear is everywhere; in the streets, parking lots, schools, churches,
play grounds, hiking trails ………
Freedom, as my generation and my middle aged children knew it, is gone.
It exploded on September 11, 1001.
That is what got me the worst that day…knowing nothing would ever be the same again.
It has also taken me 10 years to get over blind rage on 9/11.
Maybe some of it will have dissipated now that nasty son of a bitch is dead.
“My heart aches when I think about all the freedom children of today won’t
experience. Fear is everywhere; in the streets, parking lots, schools, churches,
play grounds, hiking trails ………”. That is a great expression of the sad state of our society today by Punchak. Unfortunately it is not only the terrorists to blame, but our own moral decay, and our inability to honestly address the true source of our problems. Every time someone brings up a truthful fact it is labeled as some sort of prejudice, or vehemently supported as a 1st amendment right. Political correctness has brought this country to its knees just as the terrorists brought those buildings to the ground.
Our own moral decay? Speak for yourself, SA. I don’t have moral decay.
What do you consider the true source of our problems?
Come on Moon. Tell me why we have so many child molesters and the such. Why so many shootings. What generation created drive-bys? I remember when the worst mass murder was referred to as the Saint Valentines day massacre. Now shootings like that occur on a weekly basis it seems, and not between organized crime gangs either. I remember going camping as a group of young kids without any adults. This could never happen today for fear of something happening to your kids. Am I not correct, and you act like there aren’t any problems? If you want proof just watch any nightly news broadcast.
I had my worst involvement with child molesters in 1978. I don’t see it as a new thing.
I have never acted like there are no problems. I said I didn’t have moral decay.
I think there are a lot of shootings because we are no longer a rural county. PWC has gotten very urban and with it, urban problems.
I have my own opinion about child molesters and I think it has to do with stimulus being more available. I also think the punishment needs to be much harsher for molesting children.
It changed the world. Must see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQOQWAKnB1Q
@blue
I watched that last night! Thanks for sharing it here, Blue. I saw it on TV. Very touching. The world mourned with us…or were outraged.
I actually saw new shows I had not seen before.
The 9/11 surfer will be on the Discoery Channel tonight at 8 pm.
Moe,
We are a changed country after 9-11, no question. Maybe some for the better, but mostly, not, in my opinion. Our “war” on terror does not address the underlying reason for American hatred. Our, as in our governments, support for despot leaders in the middle east has not served us well. It didn’t in Iran, and didn’t in Egypt. We want all our freedoms here but don’t seem to give a crap about other nations, unless, and until, the tyranny is brought here.
Obama is criticized for reaching out to Middle Eastern countries, like it’s a bad thing? HOW does one create sustainable change, by changing the hearts and minds of its PEOPLE, not its leadership. Obama, not only in words, but his very image, helped create a new narrative of America . Obama remained tough on terrorism while attempting to reach out to people in those most oppressed middle eastern countries.
Am I thrilled with the Patriot Act, well, no, but how does one find balance in order to stop another plot?
As far as torture goes, in the infamous words of Shep Smith, Fox News….”This is AMERICA, we don’t f*&cking torture!”
After 9/11, the World stood with us. America has never been in such high standing, internationally, as it was for a brief time after that date. / Then hate entered the picture.
Innocent people were killed because of their dress and looks.
Saber rattling, by the republicans, towards Iran, should worry everyone.
An author I know, Kurt Eichenwald, has a new book coming out soon and an interesting op-ed in today’s NYT.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html?_r=1
He was just on Rachel Maddow. I emailed you, Moe.
@Morris Davis
Silly and ignorant. The issue was the inability of the IC to share information among agencies …. a “wall of separation” as it were. It took a major reorganization to foster the close coordination among IC agencies needed to develop actionable information. This was the key finding of the 9/11 committee.