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Melvin's blog
Nshima & Curry
Melvin's Blog
Nshima & Curry
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A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY THAT'S STILL HARD TO BELIEVE
It's Tuesday morning and my wife awakens me with a stunning
report: Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center
in New York and another into the Pentagon in Washington D.C.
In that instant, three theories zip through my head:
(1) I'm still asleep -- and having a terrible nightmare.
(2) My wife has been watching too many Bruce Willis movies.
(3) There's been a major early-morning attack -- on our
alcohol cabinet. (This is the least plausible theory. My
wife isn't much of a drinker, thank goodness.)
Unable to believe that such horrendous acts of terrorism
have taken place in America, I turn on the television in our
bedroom, hoping to confirm one of my theories. Instead, I
see clouds of smoke above the World Trade Center and
realize, sadly, that New York City's air pollution isn't
quite that bad.
Peter Jennings, the ABC News anchor, looks rather
depressed -- and not because he didn't have time for makeup.
He knows that what he's witnessing, what we're all
witnessing, is a tragedy of immense proportions, one that
we'll someday describe to our disbelieving grandchildren,
just before they decide to commit us.
This is no Hollywood movie, which is unfortunate, because it
means that the terrorists responsible for these unspeakable
crimes won't be nailed within two hours.
I watch the incredible collapse of the World Trade Center,
one tower after the other, a prominent symbol of America's
economic power vanishing in mere minutes. After a collapse
as tragic as this, I wonder if people in the financial world
will ever again mourn the collapse of the New York Stock
Exchange. Stocks just aren't worth much compared to people's
lives.
A part of me doesn't want the TV networks to keep showing
the buildings falling, for I know that it's not just
concrete and steel crumbling, it's people perishing. I also
know that the sight of the collapse probably excites,
perhaps even electrifies, the terrorists who planned this. I
want to see them electrified, but in a different way.
I find myself asking questions that others are probably
asking, too: Why would anyone want to kill so many innocent
people? Did these terrible acts really achieve anything?
Where's Bruce Willis when we really need him?
I know that in some parts of the world America is considered
an evil country and scores of people are celebrating the
terrorist attacks. For example, in the West Bank town of
Nablus, about 3,000 Palestinians danced in the streets and
handed out candy, as though Yasser Arafat had just given
birth.
But we should be careful not to direct our anger at Arabs,
Muslims or other groups of people for the actions of a
minority. That would be like banning all music just because
you can't stand Eminem.
I've seen the pictures so many times, but I still can't
believe what happened: A group of terrorists has so
effectively, so devastatingly attacked the United States of
America, the most powerful country in the world, a country
that spends more money on defense than Boris Yeltsin spends
on vodka. If you're not safe in the Pentagon, where are you
safe? In Bill Gates' house?
Truth is, as long as people are willing to commit suicide
for their cause, no country is safe. When suicidal hijackers
turn planes into flying bombs, even the most powerful
country in the world is vulnerable.
All we can do is retaliate, retaliate, retaliate. Do unto
others as they've done unto us. Somehow that doesn't seem
that satisfying, especially if innocent people are killed
again, no matter where on the planet they live. The price of
revenge is often way too steep.
This is no Hollywood movie and, unfortunately, there won't
be a happy ending.
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