Sunday, September 24, 2006
Phoenix's 9/11 Memorial Blames America?
By Warner Todd Huston
On September 11th, 2001, Islamofascist murderers killed nearly 3,000 Americans in attacks on non-military targets. Common, every-man citizens on their way to work, or perhaps headed for a vacation or a visit with family, were killed by these murderers. This we all know.
But, in Phoenix, a memorial to those average Americans killed by Islamic murderers seems to have become a platform to subtly blame America for its fate.
Thanks to blogger, Greg Patterson of EspressoPundit blog, we have been made aware of this outrageous politicizing of a memorial in John McCain's home state of Arizona.
The monument was unveiled in Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near Arizona's state capital on the fifth anniversary of the attacks earlier this month. The prosaically designed, post-modern styled memorial features a time-line record of the supposed key events leading up to the outrage perpetrated against us in 2001.
But, it isn't just a series of dates recognizing terrorist attacks. No, some of these dates and inscriptions seem to infer that we got what we deserved with the attacks against us that horrible day.
As Arizona's East Valley Tribune reports...
The story also quotes representative Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) as being stunned by the news of this memorial and it's message. "To politicize it to me is absolutely outrageous, instead of a memorial to remember those who have sacrificed their lives," he said.
Patterson of EspressoPundit blog reveals the worst of it when he notes that other attacks on the US are included on this "memorial". Dates such as The sinking of the Lusitania, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and, incongruously, the date of the "attack" at the Gulf of Tonkin, the event used by president Lyndon B. Johnson for justifying his sending us into Vietnam, are included on the Phoenix contraption.
Rightfully, Patterson notices that this was a cynical attempt to link Vietnam with the current Global War on Terror in which we are involved. But, truthfully, what relevance does the sinking of the Lusitania or the attack on Pearl Harbor have to do with 9/11? What did the Japanese or the Germans have to do with Islamists who crashed multiple planes into US skyscrapers?
The Memorial wasn't complete without pointing out that after the attacks on 9/11 the US Air Force was responsible for "Erroneous US air strikes" that killed "46 Uruzgan civilians." Again, what does this accidental killing have to do with the purposeful outrage committed on 9/11?Is it a mitigating circumstance to lessen the guilt of the terrorists? Are we to view our accidental air strike a year after 9/11 as an excuse for the terrorists actions?
Additionally, why did this "memorial" take up things that happened AFTER the attacks the memorial is there to memorialize, anyway? How many memorials do you know that continues to offer comment on post event history -- unless it happens to be history of those affected by the actual attack itself? Aren't memorials supposed to focus on the actual event instead of going off on some long, drawn out history lesson of the entire era in which the event took place?
Does the Memorial for Pearl Harbor go on to tell us how Japan became a world commercial success after its attack at Pearl, for instance? Is there a Lusitania memorial somewhere that goes on to tell us all about the rise of Hitler?
Then there is this inscription:
06 03 02 Congress questions why CIA and FBI didn't prevent attacks
Excuse me? Are we supposed to understand that this "memorial" is trying to get us angry at our own government over a lack of foresight and the intelligence failures that led up to the attacks? As Patterson notes, when he saw the Pearl Harbor memorial he "... didn't see any reference to Roosevelt getting advance notice of the bombing."
Why not? Some say Roosevelt did have such advanced notice and eagerly awaited the attacks at Pearl to push his fellow Americans into allowing him to get into WWII. But, would such an allusion to an FDR conspiracy theory be a fitting addition to a memorial?
I'd say no. How about you?
This "memorial" is an outrage and the fact that public money went for this political attack on our own government is a out right crime.
One wonders if John McCain will denounce this obscene attempt at blaming America for what befell it that has been foisted upon the people of his own state?
On September 11th, 2001, Islamofascist murderers killed nearly 3,000 Americans in attacks on non-military targets. Common, every-man citizens on their way to work, or perhaps headed for a vacation or a visit with family, were killed by these murderers. This we all know.
But, in Phoenix, a memorial to those average Americans killed by Islamic murderers seems to have become a platform to subtly blame America for its fate.
Thanks to blogger, Greg Patterson of EspressoPundit blog, we have been made aware of this outrageous politicizing of a memorial in John McCain's home state of Arizona.
The monument was unveiled in Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near Arizona's state capital on the fifth anniversary of the attacks earlier this month. The prosaically designed, post-modern styled memorial features a time-line record of the supposed key events leading up to the outrage perpetrated against us in 2001.
But, it isn't just a series of dates recognizing terrorist attacks. No, some of these dates and inscriptions seem to infer that we got what we deserved with the attacks against us that horrible day.
As Arizona's East Valley Tribune reports...
One inscription states, "You don't win battles of terrorism with more battles." Another: "Congress questions why CIA and FBI didn't prevent attacks." And another reads, "Erroneous US air strike kills 46 Uruzgan civilians," referring to a wedding reportedly hit by mistake in Afghanistan.
The story also quotes representative Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) as being stunned by the news of this memorial and it's message. "To politicize it to me is absolutely outrageous, instead of a memorial to remember those who have sacrificed their lives," he said.
Patterson of EspressoPundit blog reveals the worst of it when he notes that other attacks on the US are included on this "memorial". Dates such as The sinking of the Lusitania, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and, incongruously, the date of the "attack" at the Gulf of Tonkin, the event used by president Lyndon B. Johnson for justifying his sending us into Vietnam, are included on the Phoenix contraption.
Rightfully, Patterson notices that this was a cynical attempt to link Vietnam with the current Global War on Terror in which we are involved. But, truthfully, what relevance does the sinking of the Lusitania or the attack on Pearl Harbor have to do with 9/11? What did the Japanese or the Germans have to do with Islamists who crashed multiple planes into US skyscrapers?
The Memorial wasn't complete without pointing out that after the attacks on 9/11 the US Air Force was responsible for "Erroneous US air strikes" that killed "46 Uruzgan civilians." Again, what does this accidental killing have to do with the purposeful outrage committed on 9/11?Is it a mitigating circumstance to lessen the guilt of the terrorists? Are we to view our accidental air strike a year after 9/11 as an excuse for the terrorists actions?
Additionally, why did this "memorial" take up things that happened AFTER the attacks the memorial is there to memorialize, anyway? How many memorials do you know that continues to offer comment on post event history -- unless it happens to be history of those affected by the actual attack itself? Aren't memorials supposed to focus on the actual event instead of going off on some long, drawn out history lesson of the entire era in which the event took place?
Does the Memorial for Pearl Harbor go on to tell us how Japan became a world commercial success after its attack at Pearl, for instance? Is there a Lusitania memorial somewhere that goes on to tell us all about the rise of Hitler?
Then there is this inscription:
06 03 02 Congress questions why CIA and FBI didn't prevent attacks
Excuse me? Are we supposed to understand that this "memorial" is trying to get us angry at our own government over a lack of foresight and the intelligence failures that led up to the attacks? As Patterson notes, when he saw the Pearl Harbor memorial he "... didn't see any reference to Roosevelt getting advance notice of the bombing."
Why not? Some say Roosevelt did have such advanced notice and eagerly awaited the attacks at Pearl to push his fellow Americans into allowing him to get into WWII. But, would such an allusion to an FDR conspiracy theory be a fitting addition to a memorial?
I'd say no. How about you?
This "memorial" is an outrage and the fact that public money went for this political attack on our own government is a out right crime.
One wonders if John McCain will denounce this obscene attempt at blaming America for what befell it that has been foisted upon the people of his own state?
# posted by Publius @ 9/24/2006 01:45:00 AM 
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