David Emery OnlineFive Years
11 September 2006
It seems both incredible that five years have already gone past, but also amazing how much has changed in that time.
Everybody has their own personal story and viewpoint on the day itself and the after effects it had, and I find it very hard to pin down exactly how much the world has changed since then; I have a feeling that it hasn’t really, more my perception of it.
It was the first historic “where were you when…” that I witnessed or was alive and paying attention for, at least, and I think that – more then anything – had the most profound affect on me. Suddenly, things like Pearl Harbour, JFK’s assassination, the assorted IRA attacks on London and many more all resonated with me that much more. I had never even realised or thought that I would witness something on that scale; not so much because I didn’t think that that kind of thing could happen, but more because it never occurred that it would.
Of course, the world really has changed in that intervening time – and it’s probably worth noting that the US deaths in Iraq are now approaching the deaths at the World Trade Center – but I think the connection with 9/11 is quite tenuous at best; if you really think that without the terrorist attacks their wouldn’t have been a war in Iraq then I suggest you think again.
The phrase “Lest we forget” is often used with regards to the two world wars; it strikes me that we already have forgotten the real reasons behind 9/11, and focused on the nebulous, catch-all concept of “terrorism” instead.