Disconnect
There are a lot of memorials going on today, and rightly so. But I'm against lumping the victims of 9/11 in with the Americans lost in Iraq, as many of the ceremonies are doing.
Afghanistan was about 9/11. Iraq is about something else entirely.
Bush was ready to attack Iraq from the day the Supreme Court anointed him. The connection between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein was bogus.
Let's have services in honor of the 1,000-plus American soldiers lost. But let's not have them on 9/11. 9/11 was the excuse for Iraq, not the cause of it.
| Posted at 5:47 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
Those numbers are too low because they do not reflect the future costs once the hammer falls on Iran.
Imagine if we used the war dollars to buy a moped for every American. There would be no need to lock them up if there were enough for everyone. The auto companies, in contrast, reduced the interest on auto purchases to zero for gas-guzzlers, immediately after 9/11, to keep us believing that gas is our way of life.
The origin of the 55 mile per hour speed limit was a symbolic gesture to make us all feel like a participant in reducing our dependence on oil. I think a comparable symbolic gesture would be to have a tax credit of 1,000 dollars for the purchase of up to three mopeds. The credit for the second and third moped could be used only if the moped was given to someone who’s income prevented them from fully benefiting, tax wise, from the purchase of one moped. (The credit would come off of one's tax bill, not a reduction of taxable income.) This would provide a targeted expression of revulsion while doing some genuine good for our energy security.
Symbolism is important.
Posted by ron | September 12, 2004 12:50 PM
I agree that they shouldn't be lumped together, although for slightly different reasons. Not that I necessarily disagree with yours, but I feel more strongly about others -- you know, the difference between civilians and soldiers and all of that.
Posted by DeAnn | September 13, 2004 1:29 AM
thankyou for not referring to the 9/11 dead as heroes. there were a few heroes that day, but most everyone in those towers were victims. also, ever done the math on how much of your tax dollars went to paying those victims' families due to this tragedy?
hmmmm.
Posted by brett | September 13, 2004 9:03 AM
WWP and the housemate were also puzzling over the linkage between 9/11 and the 1,000-plus military deaths in Iraq, a fallacy also promoted in this editorial in Saturday's Daily O. Is this a portent of who the newspaper will endorse for president?
Posted by Worldwide Pablo | September 13, 2004 11:10 AM