12th September, 2001

A lot of people have been writing about the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US. I don't want to write about that.

The 11th of September, 2001 was a day of shock and tragedy. People lost loved ones, they lost friends and family, and they lost a whole range of other things that can't quite be defined. That day is the day to remember who was lost and offer support to those who were left behind.

September 12th, 2001, is a different date, though. That was the date when America missed the point. The troll in the playground had walked up to the USA, slapped the country in the face and said "fight me". The right answer to that, of course, was "not on your ground, and not by your rules." But, instead, the country simply responded with the battle cry of the little boy: "I'll get you for that! You're dead!".

I remember being really angry with the way the world responded to the attacks on America. There were countries all over the world who had dealt with much, much worse. No one suddenly rose to arms to defend their honour. Why did America feel they had a God given right to go through history untouched, when no one else on earth had? Why was a single attack on three buildings in America worth more than leveling half of Sarajevo? Why was one spectacular statement worth more than all of the strife and turmoil happening in the Gaza Strip? Or the continuing pain of African countries tearing themselves, and each other, apart?

With so much terror and violence happening all over the world, why did a relatively small attack on the USA require such a massive response? What had happened to perspective?

And how could a country that was so proud of its ideals of freedom and equality justify responding to this single event by becoming so restrictive and controlling - and demanding that everyone else follow their commands or suffer consequences? America had built a mythology of being the bastion of all things noble, shining and good. Over the last ten years, since 12th September, 2001, it has steadily lost its claim to any of those things.

The ends do not justify the means, because the means will eventually become the ends. If you torture, you do not become heroes, you become torturers. If you kill indiscriminately, you do not "save the day", you become indiscriminate killers. There is no such thing as "collateral damage", only avoidable deaths. If you dictate to people what they can and cannot say, you do not become "patriots", you become dictators. You can call it what you want, but then you become just like every other malevolent force in the history of mankind which has tried to use language and ideology to cover up failures.

And that is what has, ultimately, happened to America. No matter what else it has done, no matter what else it might have achieved, it has failed. It has failed to live up to its own reputation and idealism. It has become just like all of the other countries who have convinced themselves over the years that it is okay to do the wrong things if it's for the right reasons.

On September 12th, 2001, America missed the point. It was given the opportunity to show that it really was the land of the brave and the home of the free. It was given the opportunity to take the high road and respond with dignity and determination. It was given the opportunity to be the America it always thought it was. Instead, it allowed a bully to provoke it into behaving in a way that should have been beneath such a proud country. And it took us down with it.