9/11/2001

[CaptPatrick]

Never, Ever, Forget!

[Charlie J]

can never forget, its burned in my mind

[Navatech]

The images of 9/11 are burned so deep into my mind I doubt a even a lobotomy would make me forget them.

At the time I was teaching web programming to an adult class. The news came in while I was driving to the class. We didn't do any teaching/learning that day. We did use the fast internet connection to follow the news on-line (no TV at that location).

[Rawleigh]

I was sitting at this very desk talking to a friend about the first plane crash, trying to confirm if it was a sightseeing plane or what, when the second hit!!! He had a business acquaintance in NY on the phone asking questions about what he could see from his office. I saw it was a 767 with American livery and it scared me badly because one of my best friends flies 767's for American out of LaGuardia! Needless to say I woke my pilot friend up with a phone call! He had just gotten in from a 5 day and hadn't heard the news yet.

I think it was like Pearl Harbor for our generation. You remember exactly what you were doing when it happened.

[JohnV8r]

Agreed. Definitely the Pearl Harbor of our generation.

[TailhookTom]

Never forget.

Thanks to all who served and those currently serving, and all the first responders -- without you we wouldn't have the opportunity to never forget.

Tom

[JohnV8r]

I don't want to get too political here in the wake of my own emotions about 9/11. However, I felt compelled to write this after reading some back and forth on Facebook at 5:45 am this morning. The thing that bothered me the most is that a Million Muslim March in D.C. on 9/11 reeks of a very adept strategy by Muslim extremists to enflame and exacerbate the hatred and divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in America. Is the ill-will that average Americans will feel about a Million Muslim March on 9/11 really designed to be a recruiting tool that moves moderate, otherwise peaceful Muslims in America to a more extreme anti-American position? I hope not, but the cynic in me can't help but wonder. I'm really not a conspiracy theorist, but the mere fact that I contemplated this is a signal of the complicated times we are living in.

Here's what I wrote:

I came across a Facebook post that is going viral by "Rack Em Up" this morning. The post states that 2 million motorcycle enthusiasts are on their way to D.C. despite being denied permits to rally in D.C. The post then mentions they will be there at the same time as the Million Muslim March, which did receive a permit to have a rally. The obvious inference in the post is that patriotic Americans were denied a permit on 9/11 while Muslims were given a permit, thereby stirring emotions on the basis of an injustice.

This isn't quite as simple as it seems. It was not either the bikers get a permit or the Million Muslim March gets a permit. The bikers' request was for a "no stop" ride through D.C permit which would allow them to ride through our nation's capital without stopping for red lights, etc, similar to a funeral procession. The real rub here as it turns out is over the availability of law enforcement resources on a day when Washington D.C. is on high alert for terrorist attacks. I think we can all understand the need to keep an appropriate amount of law enforcement resources focused on protecting Washington D.C. on 9/11. Additionally, the bikers will still ride through D.C.; they will just have to deal with stop lights/signs, etc. They have not been denied their right to express their patriotism on a day of remembrance.

H-O-W-E-V-E-R, I do find a Million Muslim March in Washington D.C. on 9/11 about as repugnant as you can get, and I can understand the basis for "Rack Em Up" attempting to shine a bright light on the situation despite the inferred misrepresentation of facts. At a minimum, it is a grossly insensitive and poorly timed 1st Amendment exercise designed to shine a bright light on the Muslim religion that in practice actually creates more of divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in America. In the extreme, it is a reprehensible use of 1st Amendment freedom of speech (that most Muslims in non-Western countries do not have) to remind the average American of a cowardly terrorist attack on the United States. Can anyone imagine a Million Christian March in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan in the middle of Ramadan? Or how about a Million Israeli March in Jordan during the commemoration of the Arab-Israeli Six Day War of 1967? Or maybe a Million Aryan March in Germany on the anniversary of Kristallnacht? It wouldn't happen, period.

To peace loving Muslims throughout the world, I would say this: Let us not forget that within the Muslim religion there are extremist groups who have sworn an oath to destroy the United States. These extreme views within the Muslim religion are no longer the isolated ideology of a small cult-like faction of Muslims living in tents in the desert in the Middle East. It is an organized extremist faction of Muslims with an agenda who have gained traction throughout all socioeconomic levels of Muslim society in the Middle East AND the West. The extremist Muslim ideology that the United States is an enemy of the Muslim religion that should be attacked has now permeated Muslim society on American college campuses, and even in the United States military.

IT IS BECAUSE OF THIS, that a Million Muslim March in Washington D.C. on 9/11 does little to enhance the standing of the Muslim religion in the United States or create tolerance for Muslims around the world here in the United States. Muslims would be well-served to be more respectful. But then maybe that is the point - to use 9/11 to further create a divide that drives the average Muslim to a more extremist viewpoint regarding the United States.

Rest assured organized events by Muslims on 9/11 will only steel the resolve of average Americans to remain vigilant in the face of those who would seek to destroy us.

[mike ohlstein]

Yeah well.....

High Def cameras + facial recognition software = future surveillance.

[Bertramp]

Never, Ever, Forget!

I was there ... up close and personal, my office was 2 WTC ..... "Never Forget" !!

[Tommy]

Amen, Patrick; thanks for this most appropriate post........

[Navatech]

The thing that bothered me the most is that a Million Muslim March in D.C. on 9/11 reeks of a very adept strategy by Muslim extremists to enflame and exacerbate the hatred and divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in American.

You should start by understanding that Arabs/Muslims don't speak the same language that you/me/we do... Take for example the idea of building a Mosque almost on top of ground zero... That's a show of force in their language... To wit, it's an Arab/Islamic custom to build a Mosque on top of what is or used to be an important location of their vanquished enemies... Examples abound: for example, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and numerous Mosques in India...

Even the word let alone the concept of freedom is understood differently...

As for the "Million Muslim March", only a few dozen showed up... http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/23404037/m ... z2ecA5sF3Z

[IRGuy]

My wife and I knew one of the passengers that were killed in one of the WTC planes.. a granddaughter of one of the elders in our church in a suburb of Boston.. she and her fiance were going to CA to visit one of his parents. Her grandmother took a long time to recover.

My opinions about Muslims changed 180 degrees that day.

And today we have a Muslim sympathizer in the White House.

[wmachovina]

It never ceases to amaze me how 9/11 touched all of our lives, the Captain of the AA flight flown into the pentagon was an old flying buddy in my sister squadron on the Saratoga (VF 103) . Little known fact was the murderer was on the Jump seat in a fake uniform with fake Id. We all know someone very closely touched by this. Our Pearl Harbor.

[Bob H.]

Thanks for posting those pics Capt Pat ,every generation should see them...I will always remember exactly what I was doing that day, trying to cope with all the emotions..hatred, anger, betrayal, shock..how could this happen here...and WHY?? God bless the bikers...some Americans still have balls to stand up for what is right...BH

[gplume]

Right on brother Patrick!

[Josh Johnson]

If you have NetFlix, watch the documentary called "In Plane Site". I'd like to know what others think.

[Navatech]

If you have NetFlix, watch the documentary called "In Plane Site". I'd like to know what others think.

Netflix is not necessary. It's freely available on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS3s6KL2kI0

[Navatech]

This is about the how they think:

Obsession - Radical Islam's War Against the West http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4V3O2hG ... bedded#t=1

The Third Jihad - Radical Islam's Vision for America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XUub1no ... bedded#t=0

And this is about what we might have to face in the future unless Obamby does something (e.g. crippling sanctions) about it:

Iranium - The Islamic Republic's Race to Obtain Nuclear Weapons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IDy-0C ... bedded#t=0

Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath for Obamby to do anything... I believe he has his eyes set on "containment"... I.e. living with a nuclear Iran... The problem there is that though MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) worked with the Ruskies during the Cold War the problem with Iran is that their Mullahs see MAD as an incentive rather then as deterrent...

[Carl]

Unfortunately, I'm not holding my breath for Obamby to do anything... I believe he has his eyes set on "containment"... I.e. living with a nuclear Iran... The problem there is that though MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) worked with the Ruskies during the Cold War the problem with Iran is that their Mullahs see MAD as an incentive rather then as deterrent...

Well said.

...I wish I did not agree with you.