"I was on a bus going toward the UN for an early morning session when a woman with an incredibly strong New York accent starting asking what the people outside were looking and pointing at," remembers Jack. "And then she started yelling about the hole in one of the World Trade Center towers and we soon all realized that a plane had crashed into it--into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
"I'd taken training in responding to catastrophic events so I got off the bus, caught another one and headed back toward the World Trade Center. That's when I saw the second plane fly behind the South Tower and then hit it from behind.
"[On the streets] everybody was talking to everybody else. I mean, communication was just wide open. I remember there was a young man by a truck and he was just shaking, just shaking--telling us how he saw these planes intentionally crash into the towers. I knew then it had been an intentional act by people who believe that killing is a way to solve problems.
"I couldn't see the South Tower because the smoke from the North Tower was too thick to see it, although when the South Tower collapsed I saw the dust storm . . . The second tower came down about twenty minutes later."
About his presence at the Alliant Techsystems vigil on the first anniversary of 9/11, Jack said: "I'm totally devoted to non-violent resolution to conflict and to somehow or other convincing [those who are part of] the war machine that they're going in the wrong direction. There is another way--a very successful other way."
41. On the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the mainstream corporate media was awash with patriotic images and commentaries. Journalist Mark Hertsgaard's piece in the London Guardian offered a refreshingly alternative perspective. Entitled "Why We Still Don't Get It, One Year On," the article puts forward the case that Americans are "badly served by semi-official media propaganda."
"Perhaps the greatest lie told to the American public about the September 11 terrorist attacks," writes the London-based American jounalist Hertsgaard, "is that they prove the outside world hates us. President Bush, for example, has repeatedly warned Americans about foreign 'evil doers' who loathe everything we stand for. The US media has been no less insistent, referring time and again to 'Why they hate us', as one Newsweek story put it.
"But the world doesn't hate us, the American people. It is our government, our military, and our corporations that are resented. To anyone living outside the US, this may seem an obvious point. But we Americans are not used to drawing the distinction most outsiders do between Americans and America. One result of Americans' confusion is that, a year after the attacks in New York and Washington, we remain largely ignorant of how the world regards us and why.
"Non-Americans, however, misunderstand the true source of our ignorance about them, which only furthers our mutual estrangement. Yes, our mind-boggling wealth and power encourage a certain complacency and arrogance. But that is not the most important cause of our global naivete.
"Americans are ignorant about the outside world mainly because most of what we're told about it is little more than semi-official propaganda. Our political leaders portray the acts of our government, military and corporations in the best possible light, and our news media do little to challenge these self-serving declarations.
"An outstanding example was President Bush's warning to foreign nations, days after September 11, that 'either you are with us or you are with the terrorists'. The US would never accept such ultimatums itself, yet the arrogance of Bush's remark went unnoticed by America's journalistic elite. The International Herald Tribune did not mention Bush's statement until the 20th paragraph of its story, deep inside the paper. By contrast, the French daily Le Monde highlighted it three times on its front page.
" . . . Would outsiders be more forgiving if they knew how little critical information we Americans receive about our government's foreign policy? Even sophisticated foreign observers don't appreciate how poorly served Americans are by our media and education systems, how narrow the range of information and debate is in 'the land of the free'.
"For example, last year's terrorist attacks presented an eerie coincidence to anyone familiar with the real history of American foreign policy. September 11 is also the date - in 1973 - when a coup encouraged by the US overthrew a democratically elected government in Chile. The official death toll in Chile, 3,197, was remarkably close to the number of lives lost to terror 28 years later in America. This disquieting piece of deja vu passed unremarked in American coverage.
" . . . So think twice, foreign friends, before judging my compatriots too harshly. Americans suffer daily from pseudo-news that parrots the pronouncements of the powerful and illuminates nothing but the corporate bottom line. Is it any wonder we don't understand the world around us?"
42. Michael, LeMonte and Marcie join with close to fifty others for the Wednesday, September 11, 2002, vigil outside of Alliant Techsystems' corporate headquarters.
"I'm here today to commemorate the devastating events of September 11, 2001, which I believe have impacted all of us in ways that are still unfolding in our collective unconsciousness," says LeMonte. "As I stand in front of Alliant Techsystems this early morning, gathered with my brothers and sisters, I feel that our protesting of the making and selling of destructive weaponry is appropriate as we're highlighting that this type of business venture destroys our humanity more than it brings us together. As a country, we prove that we're operating no differently than the terrorists when our response to violence is greater violence."
43. On Wednesday afternoon, September 11, 2002, over 100 people, including Phoenix, gathered for the weekly peace vigil on the Lake St./Marshall Ave. Bridge that spans the Mississippi River and links the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. As the Bush regime incessantly pushes for an invasion of Iraq, the number of participants in the vigil rises substantially.
44. "I find something rather sinister, macabre, revolting and, yes, even evil in the actions of [George W. Bush] cavorting all over the country and the world trying to garner support for the killing of people in war," says Patty Guerreo - September 11, 2002. "Will we ever have a president going around the world garnering support for peace? This war isn't about rational things, nor about truth. It is about propaganda being whipped up to an emotional frenzy. It is the worst sort of exploitation of the September 11 [2001] terrorist attack."
45. Brent dressed as Kali, the spirit of war and death - September 11, 2002. The shrunken avocado seeds of his outfit represent the shrunken heads of those killed in war. "I'm an artist, and this is me using my voice," Brent said of his creative outfit. "Everyone has to do their own thing. I want to catch the eye of people passing by. Sometimes you need to see something a little different, need to get a little different perspective."
"I don't think the Bush administration cares about the larger picture, about why we were attacked [on September 11, 2001]," remarked Brent. "I don't agree with the war [on terror]. I don't think that attacking Iraq will led to more safety [for the U.S.]. I'm out here because it scares me to think that we might be less safe if we attack Iraq. I'd rather go about it diplomatically and hope everybody remains diplomatic when engaging in negotiations."
46. September 11, 2002, was the first time on the bridge for Memo. "I expected people to be more closed-minded about the idea of peace," she said. "I've been touched by the support we're getting from passing commuters."
Commenting on the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Memo notes that "Although America is grieving, the way to deal with it is to not cause more grief for other people around the world. I'm particularly against a war in Iraq. The sanctions have done nothing but kill lots of children and the thought of a full scale war . . . it would just be an atrocity.
"September 11, 2001, was a real tragedy, and I think that the best way we could possibly make sense of the grief and do something with it is to think about what's happening elsewhere in the world, to think about the grief that other people are going through.
"It's particularly difficult for me because I'm from Kenya and I was in Nairobi when terrorists bombed the U.S. embassay. I had friends who were hurt in the bombing. [At the time] there was hardly any identification with what we went through from America. Yet I feel that other people in the world have been really generous in reaching out to support America in its time of grief--like right now. [The U.S.] hasn't shown this same depth of feeling with regard what's going on with other people [around the world].
"There should be a heightened awareness of just how fragile life is for people elsewhere and a reaching out to other people who are suffering from terror of different sorts--whether state-sponsored or American-sponsored."
47. Don carries his daughter Lexi while his partner, Brenda, stands in the background at right - September 11, 2002.
"Coming into the peace movement has been a slow process for us," says Don, "but we decided it was too important an issue not to be involved in. We want our children to grow up knowing that peace is something they always need to strive for."
48. Kevin Moore - September 11, 2002. "War is mean," says 10-year-old Kevin. "Soldiers kill real people--men, women, and children."
49. Carla and Emma - September 11, 2002.
Commenting on George W. Bush's remark that those killed on 9/11 "have been avenged" through his administration's "War on Terror," Carla noted, "I think its sad and I think he's misguided. It's not about revenge, it's about people's lives--all people's lives, regardless of what country they're from."
50. "I'm concerned about the way the president and his administration are acting. I don't think what he's doing is very American or patriotic," said Emma about George W. Bush and his hawkish administration's plans to attack and/or invade Iraq. "I think it's important that we think our actions through and make sure that the U.S. is acting in a truly democratic way, and that we're working with our allies and with the United Nations."
When asked why Bush is pursuing such a war-mongering stance, Emma opined that it could be "because the answers [around 9/11] are so hard to find. [Because of this] the administration is trying to cover up it's own insecurities with the public. Instead of saying that these are difficult questions that we need to work through with the international community in a democratic way, in a peaceful way, respecting all countries and their self-determination, Bush is really more worried about his political future. He's putting that first."
51.
52. War conquered by love of child -- September 11, 2002 and--humanity willing--every day.
53. David was one of approximately 300 people who attended a special evening of Remembrance, Reflection and Renewal on the evening of September 11, 2002, in Minneapolis. Commemorative events occurred throughout the day at various locations. The evening of Remembrace, Reflection and Renewal was organized by the Nonviolent Peaceforce.
During the course of the evening a statement from September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows was shared--part of which read:
"For members of Peaceful Tomorrows, September 11, 2001, was a day of unimaginable personal loss. Each of us lost a family member at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, or in the crash of Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Losing loved ones to extreme acts of violence has affected us deeply. It is something from which we will never recover, not in one year, not in one lifetime.
"We have come to recognize our kinship with other innocent victims of terrorism and war, a kinship that goes beyond our own borders . . . For us, September 11 was a day when the walls came down. It was a day when we realized that there were no barricades high enough, no bombs big enough, and no intelligence sophisticated enough to prolong the illusion of American invulnerability.
"But a year after September 11, 2001, we wonder how our loved ones lost on that day would feel about what has been done in their names. What would they think of our rush to military action? What would they think of the diminishing of our personal freedoms and civil liberties? And what would they think about the results of our choices?
"On September 11, 2002, we invite our fellow citizens to affirm their love of country, to honor those who were lost on this day one year ago, and to mourn the loss of life to violence throughout the world. We ask that the commemoration of September 11 serve as a call for peace and healing, not for more war and violence . . ."
