The Surreal Events of 9/11 Tainted My Political Views Concerning Our Government and War

I remember I was home that fateful day from work and I'd just set down to eat breakfast and watch the morning news. The segment I was watching was some sort of news broadcast on the roof of a building overlooking New York City and whatever they were discussing was abruptly interrupted by the explosion in tower one. I don't know why but I immediately thought of a bomb. It may have been because of my past involvement with the military but I remember looking intently at the smoke billowing from the tower and thinking that it couldn't be an accident. I also remember the newsperson was quickly trying to assure people that the newsroom would be getting word shortly for viewers as to whether it was an explosion within the building or some sort of plane that may have hit the tower.

Almost every channel had cameras focused on the towers and I was watching along with perhaps millions of other Americans as the second plane came into view and slammed into the second tower. I remember before the news anchor could speak even a word it was clear to me that we were in fact under attack. My first thoughts were terrorism has finally come to our country and now we would like many other countries have to learn to deal with this real threat. I thought of how many Americans would be shaken by these events, especially how people would question as to how it could happen here on American soil. I however, knew that many countries deal with the threat of terrorism on a daily basis, after all I had been stationed with the Army for several years in Germany.

I remembered having warnings to stay away from large public arenas due to terrorist threats such as bombs placed on buses or in train stations. I remember being instructed in what to watch for when traveling within foreign countries and now terrorism was slapping me in the face in my own country. I remember sitting spellbound to the television virtually all day and watching each horrible event unfold.

After watching the destruction to the towers and the Pentagon, I was certain that there were more planes out there and the plane that slammed into the Pennsylvania landscape only proved me right.

Sadly like many other Americans, I was glued to my television however it wasn't a surprise when we declared war on those that had struck our country and its people. I actually never would have expected any other response but to say to the world that we will not rest until we have found those that have caused this unspeakable destruction of American life on our soil.

It has now been ten years since 9/11 and over the years my viewpoints of our government and its leaders have drastically changed. It was at first my impression that of course we would retaliate for this hideous act but then after information started surfacing of how we were fighting against extremists that had been involved in many acts of terror against Americans including the last attempted bombing of the towers, I was uncertain at how anyone can truly fight terrorism that exists within many countries and could strike anywhere. I knew that terrorists for the most part can easily be your neighbor, co-worker or simply the meek grocer who runs the corner store and terrorists don't have to be foreigners. It wasn't so long before the towers that an American had struck fear into Americans when he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

The fact is terrorists exist in most every country and consist of almost every nationality. They don't just hate Americans, they hate democracy and they despise capitalism.

I have since 9/11 changed my viewpoints on what we as a people should know. At one time I would have said that our government told us everything that they felt was important and ran our country with our best interest at heart. Now however I can honestly say I think that our leaders have no idea what is in the best interest of Americans. I also would have to say that Americans should have been warned of the terrorists threats that were being made against us. I understand that our government along with many other countries get an enormous amount of information of possible terrorist threats and for the most part many are questionable, however I believe we as Americans deserved to know that there were terrorist threats being made against us.

I think over the years most Americans have been shaken not only by the unanswered questions but the cost of what this war against terror has taken on our country. Yes it is true that I like other Americans wanted to strike back against those that killed so many innocent Americans, but now after ten years and the death of Bin Laden I think many Americans wonder where exactly are we when it comes to the fight against terrorism.

At what point does our government realize that the war we are fighting is a costly one and hasn't our country suffered enough. We will never be able to wipe out terrorism, the reality is terrorism lives through extremists that can spring up from anywhere. Many terrorists pick up the fight where those that have died before them left off, hence for every martyr that passes there is another one waiting in the wings.

Since 9/11 my political views have changed dramatically. I once thought of myself as a liberal but over the years I have changed to republican. I no longer believe that our government truly understands what is best for its people. I, like many other Americans have watched our government throw our country into a deep recession with little hope of climbing out of the hole we are in anytime soon.

I think for the most part Americans now know that terrorism is a real threat that has to be consistently fought. We have accepted that we as a country are as vulnerable on domestic soil as we are on foreign soil. We have learned that with increasing technology comes the ever increasing threat of terrorism.

I think that most Americans including myself have learned many things over the years but one of the most important is that we as a country are not invincible.