This morning, eleven years ago, I sat in class when another teacher came into the room and without saying a word turned on the tv. It took me a few moments to even understand what the image of the burning picture meant. Then the second plane hit. As far as we were aware, we were under attack.

The nation came together in a way that only happens in times of great stress. The ugly side also crept through. We were justified in removing the Taliban from Afghanistan. We were not justified in persecuting our Arabian, Muslim, or “towel head” brothers and sisters. I will never forget the pain of that morning but I will never forget the pain inflicted by an illegal war in Iraq or the continuing racism that plagues our society.

Today is a day to remember, honor those who have died in the service to our country, and work towards the United States we know we can be.

My father, who turned 86 this year, spoke with me shortly after the September 11, 2001 tragedy, saying that he held his breath for a couple of days. The spirit of togetherness and humanity emanating from New York City gave him hope. In the city where he and his parents lived, where he worked and earned his Masters and PhD and where his family continues to live and work, compassion had blossomed.

This was a wake up call, he said and he hoped that the nation would use it to see what our country has become; an empire that has dominated the world with military force since World War II. A target for retaliation. A bully disguised as a cop. A fattened pig ripe for slaughter.

My father was disappointed when after the stillness of a few days, we all heard the unmistakable rattling of blood-thirsty sabers. Eighteen months later, with astounding disregard for the United Nations, George W. Bush launched a revengeful rampage resulting in the deaths of more than 100,000 civilians.

Do I morn the slain innocents who suffered a horrible death on September 11, 2001? Yes, I do. And I also morn the death of American innocence, compassion, and common sense which occurred soon after that fatal date.

The magnitude of destruction at incredible cost to American citizens has, in my opinion, placed this country firmly in the same camp as Hitler’s Third Reich. One day I’m afraid, readers of American history will look back on these years and ask themselves, how could the citizens have allowed their country to turn into a police state and a global killing machine?

I’m not saying there will be more horror ‘if Bush wins the election’ – I am saying there will be more horror regardless of who wins. Both men believe the carnage must continue. Meanwhile people continue to slap magnetic ribbons on their cars and drive off to work.

It makes me very sad to think many, if not most, Americans see war as a solution. They somehow believe we are helping stabilize and liberate the Iraq people. I wonder how many of these apparently well-meaning people are aware of just how much destruction we have caused?

According to this story in the New York Times a research team from Johns Hopkins University was able to estimate the Iraq civilian body count at 100,000 during the past 18 months.

After our commander-in-chief invaded Iraq, I didn’t want to believe that my friends and neighbors wanted anything to do with it. Many of us stood on the street with signs saying things like, “What would Gandhi do?”

My work gives me the opportunity to speak with a fair number of strangers over the phone and out in our recycling yard. Bar owners, contractors, school teachers, grandmothers, newspaper editors, tourists from abroad, retired plantation workers and the homeless. We usually talk story for a moment before they move on to their next task. Week in and week out I connect with people who all seem reasonably compassionate. Their core values resonate with mine.

Sadly, the election results are proving that a majority does, in fact, believe we must hang in there until the job is done. In other words, they believe that a little bit of violence now will prevent more violence later. Unfortunately, it has now become a lot of violence breeding even more violence.

The best analogy I can think of is this: I run with a group of teenagers who have everything. Every one of us has 5 times what the poorest kids in school have. I start hearing rumors that members of our group are pushing other kids down and taking stuff away from them. I don’t want to believe it. Finally, I see it for myself and I am shocked and repulsed.

For a while I try to convince my friends that violence is not the answer. They pretend to be compassionate but it continues. My friends begin making excuses for the bad behavior of the group. They even go so far as to imply that our group is helping the kids we have pushed around and taken things from.

“This is wrong! This is madness!” I cry. My peers look at me as if I had lost my mind. They are no longer friends. I can’t understand their logic. Finally, I do the only thing that makes sense. I leave the group.

Okay. Maybe that analogy is a bit of a stretch. How about this one: There once was an emperor who had taken to parading through the streets as naked as the day he was born. . .