Never Forget...

Today we take a moment to commemorate the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 (or as I like to call it, Dick Cheney's favorite holiday).  On this day we should remember the victims, the policemen, the firemen, and other first responders who lost their lives on that day, as well as send our prayers and hopes to their families.  We should never forget them, nor should we ever forget the tragedy of this terrorist attack on American soil.  However. among the choruses of "God Bless America" and chants of "USA, USA" coming from the right, there are some other things we should never forget about 9/11.  Things that people like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, their apologists on the right, and their media patsies would like for you to forget.


Never forget...

• ...that 9/11 happened on George W. Bush's watch.
• ...that Bush and his administration had information warning of possible attacks more than a month prior, and he ignored it.
• ...that his administration conspired to use 9/11 to manipulate the public and the media into supporting an ill-conceived attack and occupation of Iraq.
• ...that his administration falsely connected 9/11 to Saddam Hussein.
• ...that the Bush administration outed a CIA agent (Valerie Plame) because her husband criticized their justification for war.
• ...that the Bush administration fabricated evidence of WMDs in Iraq to win congressional support for an attack.
• ...that Bush was literally feet away from capturing Osama Bin Laden in Tora Bora, before letting him get away.
• ...that the war Bush led us into, in the name of 9/11, cost the US trillions of dollars, untold credibility around the world, the lives of over 4500 soldiers (not to mention countless others permanently maimed or traumatized) and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
• ...that our occupation of Iraq did more to destabilized the region than anything Saddam Hussein ever did.
• ...that Osama Bin Ladden was finally killed, by the Obama administration.
• ...that Republicans BLOCKED a bill that would help 9/11 first responders and workers who are now suffering from repeated exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.

Now, for the record, this is not to diss the remembrance of 9/11.  It is importance for all of us to remember the people who lost their lives that day.  But in the midst of our remembrance, it's important for us to remember the lessons (hopefully) learned from our previous foray into war, especially now that the current administration is trying to convince us to attack another country that -- and it's important for us to be honest about this -- has not attacked us.

The right-wing has spent the past 12 years living life under the prism and imprisonment of 9/11, and have been trying to convince the rest of the country to live likewise.  If we're to spend every year this time flying our flags at half-mast, singing God Bless America, chanting USA, USA, and wearing our patriotism on our sleeves like a badge, then we need to do it full measure.  To that end, we must never forget 9/11...any part of it...ever.