Who doesn’t remember where they were the morning of 9/11? When they first heard that one, then another plane had hit the World Trade Center towers. How can we ever forget the footage of the towers plunging to the ground, and the devastation we witnessed that morning?
I remember waking that morning and my husband telling me a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. WHAT?
Jumping out of bed and running to the tv, I witnessed seeing another plane crashing into the second tower. Was I watching a repeat of the event? My husband had said one tower. No – it was happening live, right in front of my eyes. My mind went blank in disbelief, and my husband said – “it has to be terrorists”.
As the media caught up with my husband’s observation, and the connection to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden was made, we witnessed – in shock – how horrible the situation in Afghanistan was under the rule of the Taliban. What horrified me was watching footage of the women being trucked into a public area and shot for menial “crimes”.
It was the plight of the women of Afghanistan that touched my heart.
I also knew that a war was inevitable. It was only a matter of time. America will get Bid Laden. We had no doubt. In that moment, our nation was unified.
At that time, I was taking a video editing class. Our current assignment was a music video, and we were free to use whatever song we desired. Although there were several I had been thinking of using to create this assignment, the magnitude of 9/ll made one stand out as very relevant to this event and my personal feelings about it.
The song, “We Don’t Need Another Hero”, performed by Tina Turner in the movie “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” seemed to have been written as a preordained commentary to the 9/11 event. As well as a plea from the citizens of Afghanistan and the world.
Here are the lyrics:
Out of the ruins
Out from the wreckage
Can’t make the same mistake this time
We are the children
The last generation
We are the ones they left behind
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change
Living under the fear till nothing else remains
We don’t need another hero
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the thunderdome
Looking for something we can rely on
There’s got to be something better out there
Love and compassion, their day is coming
All else are castles built in the air
And i wonder when we are ever gonna change
Living under the fear till nothing else remains
All the children say
We don’t need another hero
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the thunderdome
So, what do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a light
Or end in the dark
Give it all or nothing
While listening to this song, over and over, I was watching the news almost non-stop. Bid Laden was emerging as a hero to many in the Islamic world. I started recording all the news coverage and other programs about Afghanistan and the tragedy of 9/11 and I used some of this footage in my music video editing assignment. It was and still is a very powerful and moving music video. (I wish I could share this video with you, but I’m uncertain how to do that using the song and plundered tv footage.)
As I sit, writing this blog, I’m listening to the song again – I can’t help the tears that continue to well up as I fathom how great a failure the past 8 years have been toward our goal of getting rid of the people who not only attacked us, but are again gaining ground in Afghanistan.
One of my more ardent objections to going to war in Iraq was that, once again it seemed, we were choosing to abandon the people of a country who truly wanted our help and friendship. People who, with hope, longed for us to rescue them. Is it any wonder that people around the world are just as disgusted with this current American administration as we are? Finding Bid Laden and Al Qaida was the “Just Cause”. Yet, through deception, this administration has bankrupted our country for their own self interests, abandoned those who would have embraced us and created more enemies who pose to cause us more harm.
This administration has not only trampled on our hearts, but also those of the people in the world, who – in spite of everything – still look to America as a symbol of hope, freedom and justice. We’ve all been betrayed.
Obama touched a nerve in all of us during his campaign when he focused his attention on Afghanistan. A country and an opportunity this administration lost has now been found with the incoming new administration. Wrongs can be righted. It is our only hope.
I know it’s not going to be easy. However, as an American, I’ve always known in my heart that finishing the job in Afghanistan is the right thing to do.
For all of us, the people in Afghanistan and the world.
Late Boomer Views 