Perspectives

What was missing from the Sept. 11 commemorations? An accounting.

We remembered (and honored) those who died and make no mistake, their deaths were unnecessary, but I continue to be amazed that so few Americans ask, “Why?” What is it about America that compels Muslims to kill themselves (and us) in suicide missions? That simple fact should compel all of us to wonder what drives young Muslim men, lads who might be wooing some comely, almond-eyed Scheherazade, boys who might be so in love with life (and living) that dying for any cause is repugnant. But that does not seem to be the case.

Asking why is a controversial question. It suggests that those who died were somehow culpable in their own deaths. That is a ridiculous connection. The specific people who died Sept. 11 were innocents slaughtered, but that does not mean we, as a nation, should not examine what motivated the 19 Muslims to want to kill us (and themselves in the process).

Americans, as a people, are an ignorant lot. We frequently elect presidents (and legislators) who are woefully uncultured nativists. Many do not study history beyond the simplistic platitudes concerning our Founding Fathers. Worse, we think of today as having no antecedents; that today arrived in a vacuum disconnected from any cause and effect.

Why didn’t the Sept. 11 hijackers target Brazilians, the Chinese or South Africans? Why Americans? And your answer would be?

I’ve asked this question before. How many troops does China have stationed in Islamic nations? Incidental to the answer of “no troops” is the uncomfortable realization that China pays what per barrel of oil? China pays the same for petroleum as America without the added surcharge of our dead military personnel and a $3 trillion bill of indebtedness.

Osama bin Laden was clear in his statements regarding what he found offensive about America (the West). He clearly wanted American troops out of his holy land of Saudi Arabia. He wanted American troops out of Islamic countries, period. He disapproved of our liberal, secular culture. He aspired to construct a modern-day caliphate governed by Sharia law. He disapproved of America’s support of Israel.

Our nation has mucked around in the Middle East for decades, supporting oppressive regimes, clandestinely involving itself in the internal affairs of Islamic nations, deciding winners and losers. For what? For oil. And for ego. Because we’re the noble Americans who cloak our intrigue under the guise of promoting democracy and capitalism. That might sell in Little Rock, Ark., but for any reflective Islamic nationalist, America is an oppressive, imperialist nation, no different from the 19th century Russians and English (and others) who once played “The Great Game” in The Middle East.

America was struck on Sept. 11 because we are a meddlesome imperialist nation with an unfortunate history of Middle East involvement. We were struck because America represents modernity (change) in an area of the world administered by men with 12th-century mentalities and beliefs. We were struck because we are the “Big Dog” on the world block and successfully striking America, unfortunately for us, garners the biggest bang for the buck.

It is for the women of the Middle East that I mourn, for whom I empathize. But it is not America’s moral responsibility to ensure their emancipation.

Bring our troops home. No more American forces (or meddling) in the Middle East.

That would be a reasoned final Sept. 11 accounting.