Do you remember the Maine? Probably not. The reason is that it was a battle ship that sunk in 1898 .Historians still debate if it was due to an accident or terrorists, but that didn't stop the U.S. from using propaganda that led to the Spanish-American War. There slogan was:
"Remember the Main" (click on for more info)
Sound Familiar?
How was 9/11 different?
For starters we had solid evidence that terrorists attacked the twin towers. We also really wanted to blame Saddam Hussein for all of it. Especially since President Bush was looking for any excuse to go back and finish what his daddy started.
How was it the same?
We had no solid evidence for the occupation of Iraq that followed. At first their were claims of weapons of mass destruction. But no weapons were never found nor discovered by anyone. There was also no connection between the terrorists attacks and Saddam Hussein. Even President Bush admitted that he was wrong about his allegations.
2016 and we're not allowed to forget
Now we have been occupying the Middle East fighting an ideology for over 25 years. So it's kind of ironic that the slogan is "never forget" because the truth is we've been reminded every day since the first plane collided into the first of the Twin Towers.
Not to show any disrespect towards the 4,000 men and women that lost their lives in the attack. Also much respect for the members of law enforcement and emergency workers that risked their lives to save those they could. But lives are still being lost because of this one event.
Since our occupation of the Middle East over 1.3 million lives have been lost.
So please remember the lives lost on 9/11 but I ask of you this:
What are we going to do about the future lives lost over an ambiguous war on a concept?
Social Gelo with Angelo
Angelo Ferrer (M.S. Psychology)