It's 9/11...again

The events that occurred in the US on September 11, 2001 were horrendous. Nobody expected such a brazen attack. Too many innocent lives were lost. It's proper, and important, to take time today in remembrance of the losses suffered by many.

Equally, what has happened in our world in the ensuing 5 years is also horrendous. Although it's important to remember the 9/11 losses, what really bugs me is that there seems to be ignorance and indifference to the countless thousands of innocent lives that have been lost since - a large percentage of which have been lost in the so-called 'war on terrorism' and the Iraqi conflict. Many of these deaths may not have happened if it hadn't been for the 'fabrication' of eveidence that was used to try and connect Iraq with the whole thing.

A large percentage of the people killed in the American bombings were 'regular' people like those killed on 9/11, going about their daily lives, but who remembers them or mourns for them?

Rather than being a safer place now, I believe that the events that have transpired during the past five years have made our place a scarier place to live - one full of paranoia and mistrust, amongst other things.

I, for one, am glad that US Presidents can only be re-elected once, although how that happened with the present one is beyond me. I should emphasise that I don't dislike the American people. A few bad apples don't spoil the whole barrel, which could also be applied to the Moslem community, which is another debate altogether.

When I went to Detroit last October to see U2 in concert I spotted the following bumper sticker, which touches on some of my feelings concerning the events since 9/11: