Holland sent a million tulip bulbs to NYC.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate who is struggling for power against the country's hard-line Islamic leaders, expressed "deep regret and sympathy with the victims" and said "it is an international duty to try to undermine terrorism."

and

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said "I send my condolences, and the condolences of the Palestinian people to American President Bush and his government and to the American people for this terrible act," Arafat told
reporters in Gaza. "We completely condemn this serious operation. . . . We were completely shocked . . . It's unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable," says a visibly upset Arafat.

and

Syrian President Bashar Assad sent a condolence message to the White House, calling for "world cooperation to eradicate all kinds of terrorism."

It was an "ich bin ein Berliner" moment for sure. Squandered by a man child and his pupiteer who desperately wanted the glory of war without having to put their own lives on the line.

And we all pay the price.

People want leadership......and in the absence of leadership, they will listen to anyone who walks up to the microphone.
Lewis Rothschild, in "American President"

reposting this digby that I posted on GD:

9/11

by digby

Gary Kamiya in Salon has written an indispensible article today about 9/11,retribution, terrorism and how we got here. This is the conclusion:

Like a vibration that causes a bridge to collapse, the 9/11 attacks exposed grave weaknesses in our nation's defenses, our national institutions and ultimately our national character. Many more Americans have now died in a needless war in Iraq than were killed in the terror attacks, and tens of thousands more grievously wounded. Billions of dollars have been wasted. America's moral authority, more precious than gold, has been tarnished by torture and lies and the erosion of our liberties. The world despises us to an unprecedented degree. An entire country has been wrecked. The Middle East is ready to explode. And the threat of terrorism, which the war was intended to remove, is much greater than it was.

All of this flowed from our response to 9/11. And so, six years later, we need to do more than mourn the dead. We need to acknowledge the blindness and bigotry that drove our response. Until we do, not only will the stalemate over Iraq persist, but our entire Middle Eastern policy will continue down the road to ruin.

Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Four Stars for President 2008

When something is squandered it is merely used up. In this case it is more as if the good will that came our way was money that got "leveraged" to finance constructing some massive poorly conceived shoddily built Mega Mall located somewhere no one wants to go to shop stocked with nothing that anyone actually wants to buy. All the seed money is down the drain, we are deeply in the red, and massive unpaid loans are getting called in.

I wish we could say the good will was only squandered, instead a reckless attempt was made to exploit it, kind of like taking out mortgages for more than a property was ever worth at the height of a super frothy housing frenzy. And now they want to double down with Iran.

I must admit that after 9/11 I wanted so much to take out my revenge against the enemy. Unfortunately, I am female so getting to shoot the enemy would have been unlikely and I was a few years too old to enlist. Anyway, I didn't cry at all, not once, for two years.

Later, I saw on the news that Bush decided we were diverting from going after the enemy and, instead, for some incredible reason I could not figure out, and still can't, were on our way to Iraq. Again, FURIOUS, but this time at George W. Bush.

I cried for the first time that day because of the stupidity of Bush and the idiots surrounding him deciding on an unnecessary desert invasion that I had a complete inability to do anything about. These people are supposed to be INTELLIGENT, patriotic Americans, leading us as a nation through a difficult time. I was completely sad, completely angry, completely bewildered, and completely embarassed for my country.

How could someone so upset and angry at the terrorists as I was/am be just about as angry at our president? It seems unfathomable to me as much of a patriotic person as I usually am. Because of Dumbya and this administration, some of that has been squandered at least for the time being until they are out of D.C. That makes me very sad.

Don't get me wrong, we are not a nation full of liberal pacifists. Hell, I know I am not. However, our military might should be used appropriately for just cause and, as our friend the general says, only as a last resort.

The second time I broke down in tears was when I was watching the 9/11 documentary of the attacks and the brave men involved. I felt helpless and I so wanted to DO SOMETHING, as I had on that day. So, I became a volunteer and I have begun to change career paths to focus more heavily on helping those in need with the after effects of trauma (e.g., PTSD). It isn't enough. I still feel helpless.

God bless the people that died that day, their families, and our military, ERTs, and civilian men and women who fight the good fight every day amidst horrible conditions. God bless our once proud and wonderful nation. God bless the people who take a stand against Bush, Cheney, et al.

 ..and, maybe most importantly, God bless our leaders, both good (Wes Clark) and bad (George W. Bush) as they have more power to affect or squander real policy/change/good will than anyone else. May the wisdom of our good leaders prevail over the corrupt ideas of this administration and the neoconservative agenda.

My prayer: Dear God, I no longer want to accept ALL the things I personally cannot change. Some things are too important to overlook and leave to chance. If nothing else, let it be said that I did not remain silent. Amen.

UBL is apparently still alive, even now, SIX YEARS later. There is INDEED something wrong with this picture. If ever we needed a President Clark to make us feel safe and proud and to bring us back together as a nation and with our allies, it's NOW.

As you can see, year by year I have grown more emotional, not less. Given my nature, this does not comfort me or give me hope.

A Southern Clarkie

Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy.  --F. Scott Fitzgerald

On the week end following 9/11 all over Europe football (soccer) fans stood before the games and sang "You'll Never Walk Alone." 

Barry
Are you safer today than you were six years ago?©

The people of Ireland observed an entire day of mourning on September 14, 2001. In that day-long observance, I think they may have been alone in the world community. And the following week, they expressed their hopes for the proper response of the USA and the UN.

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE TO MARK NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING

On this National Day of Mourning we take time to reflect on the horrendous events of the past few days in the United States. These horrible scenes represent an attack on the very foundations of our human dignity.

We are sad, shocked, sickened, grieving, disbelieving, outraged, frightened all at once. We are only beginning to hear the human stories, the unbearable reports of final phone calls of love, of the heroism of so many, the loss of so many. These stories will continue to unfold for many days and weeks to come, bringing with them a growing realisation of the full extent of the pain and sorrow that is the gruesome legacy of these awful acts of hatred.

The people of the United States hold a special place in the hearts of all of us here in Ireland. The roots go down through the centuries and are as strong today as they ever were. Our first thoughts therefore are with the American people as they try to cope with the magnitude of what has happened in their great country. To the bereaved, the injured and to those awaiting news of their loved ones, we send our prayers, our deepest sympathy and our support.

And we in Ireland face our own share of this tragedy. We only have to look at the photograph of the beautiful face of Ruth Clifford McCourt and her gorgeous little girl Juliana to see with our own eyes the loss which Ireland, too, has experienced. There are deep worries about other loved ones missing, still unaccounted for, and we pray for the Irish families who wait to hear some word and who hope for any possible consolation.

We have watched in admiration as the rescue services work ceaselessly to locate the victims of these attacks and sadly, we now know that many of the emergency personnel have themselves perished in the course of their duties. Their heroic, loving care for the stranger stands in sharp contrast to the evil of those who perpetrated these horrors.

Our Embassy and Consulates in the United States and Government Departments at home are deeply involved in providing caring assistance to our Irish family here and in the United States and we thank them for the kindness and sensitivity with which they go about this difficult work.

This National Day of Mourning is a very special opportunity for all of us to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the United States of America. It sends a message across the Atlantic and indeed around the globe that Ireland too is broken-hearted and grieving at the unconscionable waste of life we have witnessed this week.

God bless those in the United States, those in Ireland and all those men, women and little children throughout the world who have been personally, profoundly affected by this tragedy. May God guide us safely through these troubled days.

http://www.cil.ie/sh620x4114.html

And on September 18, just one week after 9/11, the Irish Parliament (DA´IL E´IREANN) conducted a lengthy session discussing their hope for the future direction of the United States and the United Nations. Here are excerpts from two of the more prescient voices in that discussion:

These devastating attacks were utterly reprehensible
and I condemn them without reservation.
The deliberate killing of civilians is always
wrong, whether they are armed political groups,
governments or individuals who are responsible.
The tragedy of 11 September 2001 will be compounded
if the desire for vengeance prevails and
if more civilians die, be they the impoverished
people of Kabul, Afghan refugees on the Pakistani
border, Iraqi children or displaced
Palestinians….

TD Caoimhghı´n O´ Caola´in

Part of the reason that people — not just in
Ireland, but throughout the world — have been
so shaken by the events of Tuesday last is that we
were, in effect, witnesses to this unprecedented
mass murder. We saw, live, on our televisions, the
plane plough into the second tower. We saw, live
on our televisions, people plunging to their deaths
and the more fortunate fleeing for their lives. We
saw, live on our televisions, those two great buildings
turn into a heap of dust and rubble.
We were, in a way, all targets of these attacks.
In effect, they were attacks on humanity itself.
They were attacks on the international community.
Citizens of 62 countries, almost one third
of the membership of the United Nations, are
said to be still missing…

Restraint in the face of provocation and assault
is a sign, not of weakness, but one of strength. I
am conscious that there are concerns, not just in
the international community, but within the
United States itself, at what might now happen. I
was taken by the words of the Dean of Washington
Cathedral who in the course of that very
moving ceremony attended by President Bush
and other US political leaders last Friday said,
‘‘Save us from blind vengeance and let us not
become the evil we deplore.’’ The objective
should be to bring to justice those responsible and
see the destruction of the organisation and apparatus
used to organise and carry out these evil
deeds. Most of all we must try to ensure innocent
people do not suffer or die for something over
which they had no influence and control.

We can take hope from the fact that the tyrants
who caused immense suffering in the Balkans and
who considered themselves immune from sanction
are now paying a high price before the International
War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.
Who would have believed, even a few years ago,
that Slobodan Milosevic would now be standing
trial for his many crimes? International co-operation
has made that possible. We should pursue
those responsible for the attack in the same spirit
of international co-operation.

I am encouraged by the fact that the United
States, so far, seems to be anxious to proceed on
the basis of international consensus. I welcome
the rapid response by the Security Council of the
United Nations last week and hope the United
Nations will continue to be centrally involved.
Indeed, the degree of international support
received by the United States to date and the
worldwide extent of the condemnation of those
responsible provides one of the few grounds for
hope or optimism from the past week. The fight
against this type of terrorism will prove to be a
long hard struggle. Let there be no mistake about
it, however, that those responsible for these
atrocities did not act in the name of Allah, nor
did they do so out of any human concern for the
plight of the Palestinian people — the horror on
the face of Yasser Arafat as he condemned the
attack proves that. Neither are they are interested
in any solution — still less a peaceful solution —
to the conflict in the Middle East and because
they are not, we should be. They want to see that
problem get worse in order to fan their flames of
hate.

The express desire of those responsible for
these actions is to put in place a new cold war
and place the Muslim and Christian worlds at
each others throats. If their act, their barbarity is
to define the 21st century, it would represent for
them the greatest victory possible. Accordingly,
there is an onus on the international community
to make sure that does not happen. Greater effort
is needed on our part to resolve the Palestinian
crisis and issues like global poverty and marginalisation,
not because of the actions of murderers,
but because such initiatives should be
taken anyway….

There has been much talk of vengeance and of
the wrath of the United States. Vengeance and
wrath, even in response to last week’s outrages,
are not a basis for military action. The international
community seeks peace, security and justice,
not revenge. While we do not know the
scope of future American action, I hope and
expect that, in consultation with other members
of the Atlantic Alliance and other states, the
American response will be directed only towards
the goals of peace, security and justice and will be
prosecuted in strict accordance with international
legal principles…..

TD Ruairi Quinn

Nick Kelly

Wes Clark will be the national security candidate.