PAX Centurion - Fall 2016

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • Fall 2016 • Page 53 Forgetting 9-11? D OYOU REMEMBERWHEREYOUWERE? Or is it more convenient to forget? It’s predictably sad – but true – that manyAmericans would simply prefer to forget the fifteen-year anniversary of 9/11. In liberal Massachusetts, it’s easier to think that September 11 th , 2001 was simply “a failure of human understanding” – (as that utter moron former-Governor Deval Patrick said) – than to admit that the savages who killed 3,000 Americans that day – and many others since – are still out there and still want to kill us. I remember being en route to a detail that morning when the first plane struck the first Tower and thinking how impossible that situation seemed to be, because it was a bright, cloudless, blue-sky day. About fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the detail site downtown at the time the second plane struck theWTC. At that point, any doubts about an accident were erased. Almost in unison, car and truck radios everywhere were turned louder, acting as unofficial public information centers (cell-phones were just that – cell phones – in 2001). Soon, everybody on the way to work at downtown office buildings began casting a wary eye upwards, wondering what was happening and everyone, suddenly, appeared nervous. Within the hour, virtually every office building in Boston was evacuating, creating a mid-morning traffic jam. On their own initiative, individual detail officers and regular patrol officers began assuming positions at intersections and in places of high-visibility. People placed frantic calls, inquiring about friends and family in-flight, in NewYork or DC, or arranging for hurried pickup of children leaving local schools early. By midday, Boston was a ghost-town; virtually all of America was glued to a TV-set somewhere. Panic and fear were palpable, and so was anger. Now-retired officer Joe O’Malley and I spent that night’s first-half tour in Charlestown, watching F-15 fighter jets circle the sky above the harbor and a traffic- free Tobin Bridge. I don’t recall a single radio call being received that night; 9-11 had, temporarily at least, stopped even the most ardent repeat family-trouble, gang-related or other “routine” calls. Every year since, on or about the anniversary of September 11 th , I look for the channels where 9/11 replays are shown, especially the news shows played in “live-time” from that terrible day, exactly as events unfolded. I feel intense empathy and sadness for those poor souls who jumped to their deaths rather than burn alive in theWTC. I specifically remember the woman modestly holding her dress in position as she fell and the man who tried desperately shimmying his way down between the exterior concrete pillars, using his back and his outstretched feet, before he released his tenuous grip and fell. And, quite honestly, I also feel incredible anger at the culture that produced the 9-11 savages and the stupidity of Americans who fail to recognize the obvious danger that not only still exists but has seemingly grown worse over the past fifteen years. At our own peril, we place our collective heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and pretend that what is - is not. If we don’t see it- or more to the point – if we don’t want to see it – then….it’s not there. But it is there. We owe those who perished on 9/11, and those in our military who have died for us since- much, much more than airy, empty pleas for By James W. Carnell, Pax Editor peace and understanding. Collectively, we can dance around Maypoles, hold hands, sing songs and light candles while we wait for the savages to come and cut our heads off. Americans suffer from this naïve idea that if we just show how good and pure and tolerant we are, well, then the barbarians and the savages will learn from our good example and join hands with us and sing and dance, too! But our quaint and naïve notions of right and wrong, good and bad are the polar opposite of their twisted vision of “paradise” and how to get there. How incredibly stupid we are. A great Roman General once said, prophetically, “If you want peace, prepare for war” (“Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum”). President Teddy Roosevelt warned “Walk softly, but carry a big stick.” Throughout history, all of the world’s great conflicts and wars have been preceded by a lull in military preparedness and weak, indecisive national will. Our enemies do not understand our desire for peace, perceiving it only as weakness and an opportunity to strike when we are most vulnerable. The wolf prefers to avoid the sheepdog – if possible – and wait for the sheep who wander away to play in the woods. Why waste energy if dinner presents itself freely?As the savages tell us, plainly, time and time again, “you love life, we love death.” But we do not want to hear that. In our stupidity and arrogance, we waste time and effort trying to “understand” the savage, or even decry the use of that word – savage – as a descriptive term. Instead, we criticize the sheepdog for barking out warning about the approaching danger. Be quiet, stupid dog, we’re trying to sleep. The wolves are just different than us. They want us to come to the woods and play… Our military equipment is in disrepair and spare parts are being cannibalized. It was recently reported that our Air Force is 780 pilots short of the minimum, and retiring pilots are being offered huge incentives to stay longer. Politicians infest the Pentagon. Just before this 15 th anniversary of 9/11, it was publicly reported that nine Iranian gunboats challenged anAmerican warship in international waters, coming to within 100 yards, (does anyone remember the USS Cole ?) and we did nothing. We have paid ransom for hostages to the same Iranians who daily chant “Death toAmerica,” and we pretend … well… “maybe they really don’t mean it.” A North Korean madman- nut fires nuclear-capable missiles 800 miles into our Japanese allies’ airspace, and we do nothing. TheAmerican President is openly disrespected by the Chinese at the G-20 summit, having to use a “spare” set of plain stairs to descend the tarmac at the airport. Our police officers are under attack at home, from enemies armed in the streets and others who occupy our universities, our government, or broadcast “news” into our homes. And our enemies wait, licking their chops, for the best moment to strike, again… Like lawyers, we argue on behalf of the lion’s right to eat us. We purchase the hangman’s rope for him, and instruct him how to tighten the noose. We forget 9/11 at our own peril, dancing in the comfortable fog of naivety, chanting and singing our desire for peace and love and international understanding while having another in an endless succession of candlelight vigils. And our enemies laugh, and wait, and watch…. Si Vis Pacem…Para Bellum.