Looking back over the two decades since 9/11

September 2021

For the first time in 20 years, the nation is commemorating the 9/11 anniversary while a war was not being fought in Afghanistan.

Watching helicopters lift off in Kabul, I recalled watching the evacuation of Saigon. It reminded me of the daily body counts on the evening news. And while I was too young to recall the nation’s angst, those coming home from Southeast Asia unfairly bore the brunt of American frustration.

Years later, former Secretary of the Defense Robert McNamara would tacitly apologize for the escalation and pursuit of a conflict that audiotapes revealed President Johnson felt was “unwinnable” in 1965. The conflict dragged on for 10 more years.

“Some folks are born made to wave the flag. Ooh, they’re red, white and blue” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Today, as the Afghanistan Conflict winds up, politicians and politicos are once again looking to place blame. When Nixon ended the Vietnam Conflict in 1975, he inherited a war that drew in President Eisenhower in the mid-1950s. While partisans attack and defend Biden, what we know is that like Trump, and Obama, President Biden inherited a conflict that began 20 years earlier.

“Some folks inherit star spangled eyes, Ooh, they send you down to war.”

While the withdrawal was not elegant, it was inevitable. As a rule of thumb, the administration in power gets the credit, or the blame, for events during their term. But only textbooks define history by presidential terms. As former Sen. Chuck Hagel noted, actions and agreements by previous administrations came to bear on the August withdrawal.

This past week I watched hours of 9/11 documentaries. I realized that, like many things, over time it had moved to the back shelf of my busy life. I’d forgotten scenes of those jumping from the towers, those burned when jet fuel flooded down the elevator shafts, and ashen faces on Manhattan’s streets.

I suppose it’s my Methodist sensibility, but overt displays of religiosity and patriotism make me nervous, especially when they come from elected officials. As we pause this week to remember the events of 9/11, it might be a good time to reflect on a couple of ideas.

History often mythologizes the fallen. President Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, about a week after the end of the Civil War. Because the tragedy occurred near Easter, some described him as “The Middle Adam,” placing him theologically between Jesus, the “final Adam,” and Adam from the Garden of Eden.

The affront of 9/11 was national but the losses were personal. Approximately 3,000 people died on Sept. 11. Estimates suggest that 170,000 people, including civilians and military, died in Afghanistan. We need to remember those who died as well as those who served and those who suffered physical and mental injuries; these losses are personal.

Perhaps, we should remember those left behind: children growing up without a parent, the empty place at holiday meals, and those who lost a child. These were real people who lived real lives and whose deaths broke spouses and tore apart families. Let us honor these lives with quiet reverence.

“And when you ask ’em, ‘How much should we give?’ 

“Ooh, they only answer ‘More, more, more, more.’”

On another note, what we didn’t learn from Vietnam, or Korea, was that venturing into foreign lands such as Afghanistan, Somalia or Iraq is costly in blood as well as treasure. Like President Johnson’s Guns and Butter speech, money spent in Southwest Asia was not spent on infrastructure or American needs.

These opportunity costs raise the question, does modern warfare still call on the USA to be the world’s policemen? While America invested in exerting military power across the globe, China used soft power to secure the minerals and resources that spur future technologies.

Finally, the aftermath of 9/11 was the last time Americans came together. Even record store rebels wore flag pins on Nirvana T-shirts. Today, rather than encouraging unity, political strategists promote societal division to mollify the beguiled voter.

“It ain’t me, it ain’t me. I ain’t no fortunate son.”

While politicos gin up issues that bear little consequence on our lives, most Americans are busy raising families, going to work, and navigating the evolving norms of an increasingly complex society.

“Some folks are born silver spoon in hand. Lord, don’t they help themselves.”

Elected officials need to provide earnest leadership rather than divisive rhetoric, a governing vision that extends beyond the next election cycle, employ emotional intelligence, and stop leveraging political opportunism for personal gain.

“It ain’t me, it ain’t me. I ain’t no billionaire’s son.”