Lessons Learned and some still less so . . .

I believe the biggest thing that came from the tragedy of 9/11 is we, as a nation of people, with all of our differences, were able to unite. We showed our limitless compassion for those heroes and families whose love ones perished. We have since held them in our prayers. We had the support and sympathy of almost all the peoples and their governments from around the globe. We saw the singleness of purpose, might and resolve of our nation to avenge these cowardly acts and pursue those terrorists and their leadership. Osama bin Laden was the most wanted man on earth. I believe from there things went terribly wrong.

We failed to understand the long history of inequity that gives rise to hopelessness and anger, no less than the powder keg of Watts or the aftermath of Katrina. Entrenched bureaucracy lost connection with people and found more comfort in rhetoric and poorly planned action. Osama bin Laden has not been captured. Our borders and strategic targets are no safer than they were prior to 9/11.

We sent troops to Iraq with the support of more than 60% of Americans because we believed our president and his administration that the ruthless dictator Sadam Hussein was behind 9/11. Then it was WMD. Then it was uprooting a dictator, who a decade before had gassed tends of thousands of Kurds, while our government watched. One betrayal after another.

Then Hussein is captured and "mission accomplished" signaled a sense of closure. Yet, tens of thousands of "acceptable collateral human Iraqi losses" were dismissed along with almost 2,000 American uniformed deaths and tens of thousands of permanently physically and mentally scarred for a war where hundreds of billions of our tax dollars have been directed to what is now seen as an occupation under a guise of liberation and democracy.

All the while, there's less money for U.S. infrastructure, as witnessed by inadequate preparation. The aftermath of Katrina highlights this fact.

Sadly, elections leveraged yellow alerts and most Americans’ fears allowed a reduction of civil rights under the severely flawed guise of the Patriot Act. All dissenters had their "patriotism" called into question. We witnessed elections based more on principles of religious judgment versus compassion and we have watched our favored status as a country once revered weakened. If our spirit has been gutted, then the terrorists win.

The memory of our citizens and uniformed service personnel will not be tarnished because individual Americans can and will rise above the partisan politics. We can aid victims of Katrina and demand more from our government officials.

Other than a moment of reflection for these souls, I ask we remember how we can unify and hold our government accountable for what is best in all of us -- equality. We, and not elected officials alone, ARE citizens of the United States of America. I, for one, will not allow the memory of those who have died with that belief be forgotten.

Carl