I’ve been reviewing some of the 9/11 commentaries and news reports that are saturating our media as the anniversary approaches and I have to admit that many of them leave me feeling cold. This commentary by Frank Rich in the New York Magazine, for example, raises many interesting and provocative points that I found myself agreeing with even if I didn’t want to. Or perhaps, given the focus of this blog, we can take a more scholarly and analytical assessment, like that offered by this panel of experts assembled by the Carnegie Endowment. I’m not sure why many of these strike me as the wrong tone to take on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks (I still use the word terrorist rather than the neutered “terror” – because we weren’t attacked by an emotion), maybe it’s because I’m not interested in the blame-game, or dwelling on mistakes made or even lessons learned. Those may be useful endeavors for another time, but this time, this tenth anniversary, should be a time for reflection and renewal. It should be a time to reflect on the lives of those lost on that tragic day and a renewal of national unity, national purpose and national resolve. In the end, that’s the most fitting way to honor those that died.
