Yesterday the media brought back memories from nearly two decades ago. We relived the images of 9/11 and some still ask, why?

The reasons are locked away in the annals of history like a heard of elephants in a room. What I am about to say is not meant to be a justification but it may shed some light in answering the question, why?

We eulogize the dead from war but we fail to root out the cause for the need to remember. We have remembrance day and it is warranted. In America they have to many causes to remember. Pearl Harbor, and 9/11 being only two.

The unspoken elephants are those who were on the short end of American foreign policy. What cannot be won on a battle field is extorted through sanctions which starves the innocent.

The bitterness does not come from the Middle East alone. It should be remembered America interfered in an election in Chile in the 1970’s. The people of that country elected a Marxist government in a fair democratic election. The USA backed a ruthless dictator in a coup. Ernesto Pinochet proved to be a violent dictator responsible for the death of thousands.
In Argentine – the USA propped up the dictatorship of Juan Peron, another bad actor on the world stage. In Cuba they used their economic might to squeeze the country into submission. The sanctions hurt the little people who remember the successive regimes that were controlled by the mob from America.

In Iran the people were ruled by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi also known as the Shah of Iran. Yes he was propped up by America. His regime collapsed in chaos and brought the present regime which is worse.
During the Iran-Iraq war the United States supported Iraq with weapons and intelligence. They proped up Saddam.
In Afghanistan the Americans went out of their way to support insurgence against the Russians. Later that same insurgency became the Taliban.
Successive administrations have supported Saudi Arabia and other brutal dictatorships. All this while professing to promote democracy. America has bent its foreign policy into something akin to a political pretzel.
Sadly it was only a matter of time before the violence came full circle. After all the bombs dropped in Asia and the Middle East
elements of discontent struck back. America is in foreign nations at the behest of their own interests not always the interests of the citizens.

Instead of setting a day aside for 9/11 why not set a day aside to remember those killed by injustice in every nation. A day to remember those who perished from substance abuse, drugs, booze and cigarettes. This elephant in the room is the one where society benefits from the tax revenue but refuses to take responsibility for the aftermath.

When it comes to terrorism which is the scourge of the earth, the western world asks why? Europe and the western world colonized the weak, trampled on their customs, ran roughshod over their laws, drained their resources, and subjugated them
politically, militarily and economically, fully believing might makes right. In the west we hear that is old history it’s in the past. For others who’s families were victims of everything from exploitation to slavery some are not finished with the results yet. Even though it’s wrong it begins to answer the question. Why? At the end of the day society is addicted to two things, the pursuit of hero’s and the need to mourn their view of victimization.
Perhaps it is time to a quaint ourselves with the truth, reconcile the past, acknowledge what happened and set a new course. If we did that we might become our own hero’s without a need to be constantly mourning remembrance of things that didn’t need to be.

Fred Steele