Remembering September 11, 2001

LEST WE FORGET!

September Eleven
By Paul W. Smith

Suddenly and without warning
On a clear September morning,
America’s face forever changed
And priorities painfully rearranged.

How can hate be so strong
Against so many who’ve done no wrong?
Towering infernos, it seemed surreal,
Then crashing down, concrete, glass and steel.

Thousands died and millions cry.
Heroes live and heroes die,
As smoke and ash would fill the sky.

Even now our hearts still grieve,
For captive sights which never leave.
The world it seems has always been
A place where evil seems to win.

But those who wait throughout the night
Must know that dawn will bring the light,
And we who trust in God above,
Must never cease to show His love.

Copyright 2002 — Paul W. Smith

This is why we should never forget!!

So, who’s stealing the bin Laden operation’s thunder around the globe and getting all the blame (er, credit) for the September 11 terrorist attacks? The citizens of the world have cast their vote. Seven years after Mohamed Atta, Hani Hanjour and their Allahu Akbar-screaming team succeeded in slaughtering nearly 3,000 innocent men, women and children, large numbers of our putative allies in the civilized world still blame America and Israel.

“Israel was behind the attacks, said 43 percent of people in Egypt, 31 percent in Jordan and 19 percent in the Palestinian Territories,” according to the survey. “The U.S. government was blamed by 36 percent of Turks and 27 percent of Palestinians.” The pollsters noted that no prompting was necessary: “These responses were given spontaneously to an open-ended question that did not offer response options.”

Among our great friends south of the border, Mexico boasted “the second-largest number citing the U.S. government as the perpetrator of 9/11 (30 percent, after Turkey at 36 percent). Only 33 percent name al-Qaida.” Which, of course, is no shock to those who remember when the U.S. soccer team was taunted with chants of “Osama! Osama! Osama!” after a match in Guadalajara four years ago; or when the team was booed again in 2005 and plastic bags filled with urine were reportedly tossed on American players.

They hate us. They still really, really hate us. And it is not all about Iraq. As a Mexican soccer fan told the Christian Science Monitor: “‘Every schoolboy knows about 1848. … When they robbed our territory,’ referring to when Texas, California and New Mexico were annexed to the U.S. as part of a peace treaty ending the war between the two countries, ‘that was the beginning.’”

Not coincidentally, another world opinion poll was released this week that dovetails with the 9/11 survey. While the global community refuses to unite against al-Qaida as a common enemy to humanity, it has decided on who should be America’s next president. The BBC-commissioned poll named Barack Obama the world’s favorite candidate by an overwhelming margin of four to one. They see in their fellow “citizen of the world” a kindred spirit:

Someone whose former spiritual mentor shares the European elite’s “chickens coming home to roost” schadenfreude. Someone who has promoted the need for “empathy” toward the head-chopping jihadists. Someone who shares their fetishizing of terrorists as poor victims of imperialism in need of more “understanding” and “education.” Someone who cynically hawks “Buy American” campaign stickers while courting the “Blame America” Left at home and abroad.

Obama is their man. Never forget.

IF I KNEW

If I knew it would be the last time
That I’d see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more

If I knew it would be the last time
I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time
I could spare an extra minute
to stop and say ‘I love you,’
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
Well I’m sure you’ll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there’s always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything just right.

There will always be another day
to say ‘I love you,’
And certainly there’s another chance
to say our ‘Anything I can do?’

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I’d like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you’re waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you’ ll surely regret the day,

That you didn’t take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turne d out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you’ll always hold them dear

Take time to say ‘I’m sorry,’
‘Please forgive me,’ ‘Thank you,’ or ‘It’s okay.’
And if tomorrow never comes,
you’ll have no regrets about today.

That means an awful lot to me, George. Thanks. I needed
that!