Over Reaction?

Hallowed Earth

The National September 11 Memorial New York City. The Memorial is Located at the World Trade Centre site, on the former location of the Twin Towers destroyed during terrorist attacks. It's a Memorial to the near 3000 people killed not only in the attack on the Trade Centre Towers but also at The Pentagon, those on board Flight 93, and also those killed in 1993 when the North Tower of The World Centre was bombed.

The Memorial Park was officially opened one day after the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, on the 12th of September 2012. The events of 9/11 have gone down in history as the  deadliest terrorist strike against the United States ever. 

During a recent visit to New York over the festive season, I made my way to the site of the Memorial to pay my respects. It's the second time I have visited the site of the former Twin Towers, last time I was here the park was still under construction, but just because I've been before my visit was no less mournful.

This brings me on to the subject of this weeks blog.

Several weeks ago, during a conversation with a Major in the Unites States Air Force, we somehow got on to the subject of 9/11. The Major told me that a British friend of his serving in the Royal Air Force had said to him , "America overreacted after the terrorist attacks of 9/11". The Major went on to say that, "only because I have a great deal of respect for this guy, I actually considered whether there was any truth in what he'd said".

The subject of 9/11 holds many emotional memories for everyone. For instance, everyone remembers where they were, what they were doing, and the feelings they had watching events unfold on news channels across the globe. And with this in mind, I offered no opinion on what he'd just said and simply chose to listen. 

I could see the Major was having difficulty formulating a response to the comments from his British friend, but after a short pause he simply said, "maybe we did, but we had to do something"

In the aftermath of 9/11 America and its Allies embarked on a, "War on Terror". This war was a military campaign designed to eliminate al-Qaeda and other militant organisations. Since this War began it's transformed into a political and idealogical struggle against militant Islamists and governments or regimes that support them.

We are now over ten years into this "War on Terror" and what that American said about overreaction got me thinking about the real cost of all these years of struggle.

The War in Iraq claimed the lives of around 5000 soldiers from around the world, and estimates for civilians deaths range from over 100,000 to just under 1,000,000. The numbers for civilian casualties includes, not only those killed as a direct result of the War but also those killed indirectly when displaced by the fighting.

The War in Afghanistan has claimed to date the lives of around 3500 soldiers from around the world and estimates for civilian deaths range from 14,000 to around 20,000. The numbers for civilian casualties in Afghanistan are widely recognised as being grossly underestimated but as its difficult to trace civilian deaths and the UN didn't start counting these deaths till 2007 this is the best estimate available.

The financial cost to the US and its Allies of both the Iraq and Afghanistan war is estimated to be in the region of 1.3 - 4 trillion dollars. 

When you visit a site like this, where such an awful and cruel atrocity was carried out you truly are treading on hallowed ground. To me it feels as if all the souls that perished here have somehow woven a sadness into the very fabric of the earth. 

Writing the last few sentences I can feel a heaviness in my heart and  sorrow washing over me once more. Thinking of my last visit, I am suddenly transported back to the Memorial, looking down at the names I notice what I first think is a very long name on the pool edge, only to be hit with the harsh realisation that the name belongs to a mother and her unborn child. 

With a lump in my throat I notice several more names of mothers with their unborn children,  it's at this moment that I had an epiphany and all those statistics above about the "War on Terror" seem to slowly ebb away.

Time is a healer which helps to numb the pain and sadness of such tragedies like 9/11. But time also makes us forget, and as a public we have short memories. We are constantly bombarded with negative images on television and so death and wanton killing seem common place which makes us lose sight of the value of life.

After over 10 years of fighting, all this loss of life and all that money spent, are we any safer globally?

Would you have acted any differently to the Americans without the gift of hindsight?

The answers to the above questions are up for conjecture.

What I do know is, the brave men and women who've lost their lives in the "War on terror", did so to preserve a way of life. They died so we can continue to enjoy the freedoms and liberties we take as a given, and this is true whether you agree or disagree with government policy decisions that took us to war. 

"More inhumanity (to man) has been done by himself than any other of nature's causes".

Samuel Von Pufendorf, 1673