It”™s hard to believe six years have passed since passenger planes taken over by terrorists were flown into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
The reminders of that horrible day remain fresh ”“ raw to those who witnessed firsthand the low-flying planes, the crashes and the devastating aftermath. Every day a news story includes a reference to Sept. 11, 2001, which in unfair shorthand has become 9/11. Imagine referring to Pearl Harbor as 12/7.
Walk through an airport and one can hear the canned statement repeated ad nauseam about taking care not to leave your suitcase or any package unattended or to accept any package from a stranger. How many people actually did that before the terrorist attacks? Terror alerts have been assigned colors to coincide with the severity or imminence of an attack. The national threat advisory is yellow or elevated, meaning there”™s a significant risk of terror attacks, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And in case you”™re about to fly, the level is orange, representing a high risk.
And lest we forget, September is National Preparedness Month.
To bolster its purpose, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff offers this advice: “Too many individuals remain in a state of denial when it comes to personal preparedness. Able-bodied Americans need to be prepared to take care of themselves and their families after an emergency, so that first responders can focus on those who need assistance most.”
The residents of New Orleans certainly learned that lesson of having to fend for themselves after Hurricane Katrina set down on the Louisiana city. Rely on the government for help? Not a wise choice. Just ask those who live in mold-infested FEMA trailers two years after the flooding.
Homeland Security said in a statement that more than 1,700 national, regional, state and local organizations will take part in National Preparedness Month. Maybe the members of those 1,700 groups ought to head down to New Orleans and help with the “recovery efforts.”
For the first time, National Preparedness Month is focusing on four different areas and breaking down the month by week, like so:
- Sept. 1-8: Back-to-school
- Sept. 9-15: Business preparedness
- Sept. 16-22: Multicultural preparedness
- Sept. 23-30: Home and family preparedness, including pets, older Americans and individuals with disabilities and special needs.
The second week puts in the spotlight the fact that many businesses have no plans in case of a catastrophe. Look how quickly businesses and homeowners buckle when there”™s a lengthy blackout. But they are quick to respond to suing the utility.
Still, can we truly be prepared for the unexpected? Who anticipated tornadic activity in neighboring Westchester County last year, or in Brooklyn last month?
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And, even more so, who could have predicted the events of Sept. 11, 2001? Well, the answer to this question depends on who you ask. But we”™re going to say the average U.S. citizen who watched or listened as the events unfolded was caught off guard ”“ as were the airplane passengers, flight crews, workers and others inside the Towers, police officers, firefighters, medics, a priest, and those in the Pentagon killed that day.
The terror attacks will be making headlines once again as the survivors of those who died enter a Manhattan courtroom later this month to seek restitution for the deaths from the airlines and security companies. The New York Times last week asked in an article as to whether the public grieving should be winding down. Answers were mixed. For how long a time do we, as a nation, grieve for a tragedy? There is no “answer.”
The problem that compounds this tragedy is the Iraq war, for which the terror attacks served as a fuse that was ignited by a Congress and president eager to place blame ”“ as misguided as it now appears.
Sept. 11, 2001, should be remembered for a number of reasons, not just the body count.
It should be remembered for the cockeyed reaction by Washington, serving up such liberty-draining bills as the so-called Patriot Act, known formally as Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
In an investigative piece last week by The Arizona Republic, state and federal courts “authorized 8,122 wiretaps for domestic criminal investigations in the first five years after Sept. 11, 2001, marking a nearly 25 percent increase over the previous five years. Judges denied wiretap applications only twice.”
The newspaper points out that the statistics don”™t include “warrantless wiretaps that are backed by the Bush administration as a terrorism-fighting tool. Nor do they include thousands of wiretaps in which a secret court approves warrants in counterterrorism and espionage cases.”
Librarians, of all people, were the first to raise a ruckus over this act, especially the part about privacy. Businesses have remained silent. But now they might want to add their voice, especially since their voices ”“ electronic and e-mails ”“ can be monitored. On Aug. 4, Congress passed a bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, so it applies to anyone who is “reasonably believed to be outside the United States” and might have “foreign intelligence information.” Selling or buying overseas? Have a foreign subsidiary or office? Guess what, your business secrets are open to scrutiny by the government. The American Civil Liberties Union asks how are these captured communications going to be used against Americans and their businesses?
And remember to keep in mind business relationships include not just employers and their workers, but doctors and their patients, lawyers and their clients and even journalists filing a story from abroad back to America.
Benjamin Franklin said some 200-plus years ago, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Let freedom ring.
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