It’s Only a Number

There are some moments in life that you will always remember. For older generations it might have been the day Perl Harbor was bombed, or the day Kennedy was shot. For the younger generation, everyone knows where they were on September 11, 2001.

I’d like you to think of a question, to which the answer may seem obvious, but I’d like to ask it anyway. Here it is…

Why is it you will always remember September 11, 2001?

Well, obviously it was for the wanton destruction of human life. According to Wikipedia, in the three attacks on September 11th, 2001, “There were 2,973 fatalities: 246 on the four planes…2,602 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon.” That number is horrible. Think about it. 2,973 men, women and children snuffed out by violence.

As a matter of coincidence, the number of people who died in Iraq just eclipsed the number of people killed on 9-11. According to http://www.icasualties.org, as of October 6, 2006, there have been 2,973 deaths of Coalition forces in Iraq, including 2,737 US soldiers, 119 UK soldiers and 117 other Coalition troops. If you add in the more than 200 deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan, then this “War on Terror” has been more terrible in the cost of human lives than was the attack on September 11th. Of course, these numbers do not count the number of dead Iraqis, which some estimate to be greater than 100,000.

So, kill 3000 Americans at once, and we’ll always remember. But kill them one at a time in an illegitimate war over “weapons of mass destruction” and we say nothing – no rage, no outcries, just more of the same.

So, today as you go about your business, feel the rage just a little bit. Then on November 7th, go to the polls and take action. It’s time to let someone know that killing Americans is outrageous, no matter which political ideology is behind it.