Remembering September 11, 2001

Today is the anniversary of September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center towers in New York City, New York were destroyed by terrorist attack. As Americans mark this anniversary, we must remember some important things that September 11, 2001 changed for us.

We are in more danger now than we were before September 11, 2001. There is more danger from abroad as our heavy-handed foreign policy and brash handling of worldwide affairs have inflamed anti-American sentiment and created enemies out of people who were once at most ambivalent to the United States. There is more danger from within as we are threatened with losing personal freedoms, privacy and individuality in the name of "security."

If there is not another terrorist attack on the United States, the federal government will proclaim the effectiveness of their freedom robbing efforts toward greater security (the Patriot Act, NSA wiretapping, unwarranted searches, illegal detentions and torture). They will use the lack of attack as evidence that their policies are working and they will seek to further them in the interest of "tightening" security. We will continue to lose freedoms and liberties which we will not soon (if ever) recover.

If there is another terrorist attack on the United States, the federal government will use it as "proof" that not enough is being done in the interest of security. They will use the fear and confusion generated by the attack to quickly increase their power and further subjugate citizens and aliens alike. The loss of freedom will be swift and permanent and we will certainly not understand the impact of the new laws until well after we have already sold our souls for protection.

September 11, 2001 saw not only an attack on the United States by terrorists but also ushered in an attack on the United States by a US federal government interested in increasing and solidifying their own power. As we mark September 11, 2001, we must remember that truly patriotic and heroic people resist terrorism and fear mongering in all its forms.

As the famous quote goes: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."