Not a day goes by that people like Pastorius and Always On Watch and Epaminondas and WC and Avi Green And Pam Geller and Robert Spencer and Geert Wilders and myself and so many others don't think about these images
And thousands of others like them
They are not just seared into our mind
We've allowed ourselves to be branded with them
It wasn't fanatics that did this
It wasn't radicals that did this
ISLAM did this
And so many other stories and images we read and see every day these last 14 years
My God it doesn't seem that long
Not to us
To us it seems like yesterday
Like just yesterday when we thought there'd be no tomorrow
Images of beheadings and immolations and acid attacks and genital mutilations
Women and children sold into slavery
Sexual and otherwise
It isn't fanatics that do this
It isn't radicals that do this
ISLAM does this
Images we see and stories we read so often that, I'm almost ashamed to say, at times we seem almost inured to them
But we then write about them and bring you the stories and the pictures and the videos
Even though so many say not to.
There is no reason to.
I beg to differ No, I DEMAND to differ
Too many people still don't believe. Still don't understand. Still don't get it.
ISLAM DOES THIS
We spend long hours writing and researching and screaming and preaching
Often neglecting our family and friends because we are caught up in the latest atrocities. Attacks. Threats. In trying to explain to people, until we're blue and out of breath. Driving loved ones crazy with our rants
If that sounds like me trumpeting myself and my counter jihadists, playing a martyr enslaved to the counter jihad
too bad
tough shit
SOMEONE has to do it.
Because too many have forgotten the final desperation and utter despair of a falling man
How they felt when they first heard two planes struck the towers
an explosion at the Pentagon
a plane was headed for Camp David
another to The Capitol
the sinking in their stomachs waiting for news of a missing loved one
the constricting of their throats with each new suspected threat
the dry mouth nervous twitch
trying to explain it to their kids
the long hours and days and weeks glued to the news for any and all information they could get
about what had happened
or what the pundits and pols and talking heads thought would happen next
about a possible attack on a bridge
or maybe a nuke or dirty bomb smuggled into a city
any day now
the sheer horror and terror they felt that day when confronted face to face by pure unadulterated unfettered black hearted evil
the pride they felt when a handful of people, 40 strangers to each other, chose to confront that pure unadulterated unfettered black hearted evil not face to face, but hand to hand
knowing nearly
to a certainty
that they would probably die
but in doing so others would live
SOMEONE has to do it because too many have chosen not to
have chosen to make apologies for it
have chosen to think it was an anomaly and get back to their busy little lives of soccer and little league and lattes and macchiatos and keeping up with the Caitlyn Kardashians
have chosen willful ignorance
have forgotten what it was like that day to all rally as Americans
forgotten
the astounding surprise that we were caught off guard
the anger that they dared do this TO US
the pain of 3,000 lost souls
the sorrow of their loved ones
the absolute fire for
not revenge
no, not mere revenge
but a reckoning
have forgotten that it was 14 years ago
or maybe just yesterday
when we all thought there would be no tomorrow
fanatics didn't bring us to this
radicals didn't bring us to this
ISLAM brought us to this
SOMEONE has to do it because no one else wants to
And so this post is a memorial to those who died that day
a tribute and thank you to the REAL WARRIORS in uniform who confront it hand to hand every day in faraway places
like Kabul and Kandahar and Maziri Sharif and Tora Bora
and the London or New York or Madrid subways
and to my brothers and sisters who sit alone in their family rooms and living rooms writing and researching and seeing absolutely the worst humanity has to offer
to make sure no one, no matter how willfully ignorant, ever again has to feel like there will be no tomorrow
I am proud of you
stand in awe of all of you
and am humbled to be counted among you
reminding people every day
of what happened yesterday
or maybe it was just 14 years ago
I returned,
and saw under the sun,
that the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong,
neither yet bread to the wise,
nor yet riches to men of understanding,
nor yet favour to men of skill;
but time and chance happeneth
to them all.
For man also knoweth not his time:
as the fishes that are taken in an evil net,
and as the birds that are caught in the snare;
so are the sons of men snared in an evil time,
when it falleth suddenly upon them.
as the fishes that are taken in an evil net,
and as the birds that are caught in the snare;
so are the sons of men snared in an evil time,
when it falleth suddenly upon them.
10 comments:
Great piece, my friend.
Thanks.
MR,
Thank you.
You're right. Not a day goes by that I have forgotten that day -- and what it meant then and continues to mean now.
Yes, ISLAM DOES THIS.
Meanwhile, our so-called leaders have turned 9/11 into a "day of service." Pfffft.
9/11 isn't about service. It's about war.
re: "...our so-called leaders have turned 9/11 into a "day of service."
Actually, more like a "life of service" to eliminate culpability:
Sharyl Atkisson: he US government's 9/11 secrets (video)
Fourteen years after Sept. 11, 2001, one of the last, great mysteries surrounding the terrorist attacks has yet to be unmasked: 28 pages from the Congressional probe that have been kept secret from the public under two U.S. administrations. The pages were classified under the George W. Bush administration — and are still hidden from public view today under Barack Obama. There are bipartisan calls to make them public. And accusations that those who want to keep them classified aren’t protecting national security interests….but something–or somebody–else.
Full Measure airs beginning Oct. 4 on Sinclair’s ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Telemundo, CW stations and will livestream at FullMeasure.News
Great post MR.
AOW said it's not about service - it's about war.
I couldn't agree more.
When several million are killed by nukes in an American city - will we just put up another memorial - or .....?
WC,
Tough ol' broad that I am, I admit to tearing up a bit when I read MR's post.
I teared up, too, particularly with the beautiful Cello of Antonian as the background.
Watching the bodies on their way down hits me the very hardest because their bodies all look somehow posed, nonchalant in such an ironic way, almost....it's horrible.
Hi, WC....hope you're doing well.
This is a beautiful piece..thank you.
And yes...it's ISLAM WHICH DID THIS.
Z
Anonymous is right about Attkisson....she's HONEST...and WILL PRY into all the gov't dirty secrets of BOTH sides.
I'm astonished she's on networks; let's see how long it takes before the White House turns THAT off.
thank you all
every one of you
for everything
Yes, not a day goes by.
In fact, one of my nightmares last night was 9/11.
Full disclosure: 9/11 robbed me of my singing voice. The sadness amd anger that never goes away, I suppose.
Damn the Islamic bastards that have caused a blight in my life!
But thank God for the camaraderie here at IBA. MY DEAR FRIENDS!
Thank you. I am happy to be called a friend. And I consider you guys some of my deepest friends too.
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