9/11: A Look Back As The Decade Ends

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In the news lately, as we approach the new decade, we've heard about someone possibly linked to al-Qaeda who tried to blow up a plane bound for Detroit. Also, yesterday the 30th, a suspicious van was found parked for hours and hours outside of the NASDAQ center at Times Square in New York. Oddly, this sounds a lot like what we heard 10 years ago as we were reaching the end of the 20th century. Members of al-Qaeda hijacked an Indian Airlines jet that I believe was bound for Dubai. And who could forget that radicals wanted to ruin the festivities in a number of cities, which I believe included New York. Luckily, the celebrations did go well as the year 2000 arrived. The scene was especially spectacular in New York's Times Square. The city was the center of the world's attention. It wouldn't take long for New York to become the center of the world's attention again, only this time the emotions would be of the exact opposite. It's difficult to think of anything that we have seen more devastating than what we saw on September 11, 2001. I have my own observations of this event. I was so troubled by what happened that I stopped watching "Will & Grace" and instead, I would watch the news continuously. I don't feel that the reasons for the attack have been reported well. Almost no one has noticed, but the attack took place 1 year after the Middle East intifada began. The news media kept discussing the hijackers' Saudi origins as if Saudi Arabia was directly involved. NO! They did it because they hated their country's association with the United States. The Saudi government has even been criticized for the way they have treated radicals. Getting back to the events of that day and afterwards, it is also unforgettable of how George W. Bush was viewed. He had the highest approval ratings ever. When his presidency ended, he had some of the worst ever. Many blame all the problems on Bush. Is that valid? Also unforgettable was how Rudy Giuliani was treated. People were certain in their predictions that a man from the Big Apple would succeed Bush in 2009. Well, it turned out that a man from the Windy City succeeded Bush. That man's name is Barack Obama. A man unknown when the world welcomed the new century. A man unknown on 9/11. What a decade.