In the United States, we’re quick to point the finger of blame for 9/11 in the obvious direction: at Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. And many of us are also content with the sentencing of Zacarias Moussaoui – an al-Qaida member who confessed to helping conspire the 2001 terrorist attacks – to death.
However, Americans – and media moguls – have quickly forgotten that our own government also played a role that helped lead to the attacks on American soil. Generations of U.S. politicians and policy makers have continually made our nation look like a giant bully in the world’s schoolyard, and, despite what some may want you to believe, this notion isn’t anti-American – it’s reality.
With the grief and shame of 3,000 lives lost still weighing upon us all, we now seek catharsis through the execution of a French citizen of Moroccan descent who, in death, will most likely become a martyr.
After more than four-and-a-half years, hundreds of billions of dollars, thousands of dead or wounded U.S. soldiers and a nation jaded and divided, what does the war on terror have to show for itself?
More grief and more shame.
President Bush’s speeches on 9/11, Sept. 21, 2001 and the State of the Union in January 2002 rivaled the greatest political treatises we’ve ever heard. Full of compassion and promises of revenge, Bush convinced the country that everything was under control. These speeches quickly revealed themselves for what they truly were – facades and hoaxes; smoke and mirrors.
If you’re content with the unfolding of the war on terror and the way Bush has handled al-Qaida and the myriad of other terrorist organizations threatening our domestic security, then you’re probably a Republican. The endeavor that was supposed to bring us domestic tranquility and bin Laden’s head on a stick has yielded an embarrassing amount of futility.
The United States has charged and, in essence, convicted only one person in connection with the greatest terror attack in world history. With all the effort invested, we only got one guy. It’s not Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. It’s not bin Laden. It’s an al-Qaida “hanger on” conveniently called the “20th hijacker,” who happened to be in our custody on Aug. 17, 2001, according to www.npr.org.
Moussaoui’s trial was a circus, in which he originally attempted to defend himself and use captured al-Qaida members as witnesses, according to www.npr.org. Eventually he plead guilty, and since March 6 his fate has rested in the hands of a jury.
Moussaoui is an admitted al-Qaida operative who knew about the 9/11 plans and was possibly assigned to fly a plane into the White House on that date. For three-and-a-half weeks, he sat in a jail cell while FBI Agent Harry Samit frantically tried to convince his supervisors that Moussaoui was up to something very serious. Samit’s requests for warrants and special access were denied, and his suspicions regarding Moussaoui’s 747 flight training and the money he received from overseas were ignored. In the meantime, Moussaoui sat calmly in his cell as our nation was attacked by his 19 friends.
They had been in the United States for months, and we even had Moussaoui in our custody, yet America was still attacked.
We can never go back and undo the mistakes we made in letting this happen. And that’s exactly why it’s stupid for any of us to demand Moussaoui’s death as an atonement for our own negligence.
Besides, death for him brings us no closer to safety or salvation. This government will wear 9/11 like a scarlet letter, and little can be done to alleviate the disgrace and utter failure of our government officials.
Punishing one person will do nothing for us, but it will make Moussaoui a martyr headed for paradise in the eyes of every terrorist in the world.
And his death will be no consolation for our nation, which is still deep in mourning.
-Ben Shore is a political science sophomore.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.
