9/11 - 5 years later

Five years ago today, terrorists associated with Al Quaida hijacked 4 planes and flew them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and one crashed onto a field in Pennsylvania.

1) I remember in the few days after 9/11/01, people who were usually cynical had put their trust in government to protect.

I remember within the 2 year span before 9/11, my political ideology was shifting toward libertarianism, which didn't trust government much. I was turning in that direction because I wanted an alternative to the Democrats ( who usually wanted to ban guns, raise taxes, and over-regulate entrepreneurship, and promoted affirmative discrimination ) and the Republicans ( who usually wanted to ban abortion, adult entertainment, put non-violent weed smokers in the same prison space as violent thugs, and wanted to force Christianity on public school students ). I also remember being skeptical about both Democrats and Republicans who always wanted to send US troops to fight foreign battles.

Also, within that 2-year span before 9/11, there was a controversial 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. I voted Harry Browne for the reason mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Right after that election, there was a recount controversy. It was earlier declared Bush was the winner, but Al Gore refused to admit defeat. I was so tired of this controversy, I wrote an editorial on Ka Leo, saying that Al Gore should just move on. Because of that editorial, I was demonized and forever considered a "Bush lover" by Tobin Jones.

Anyways, after 9/11, I sided with Bush in sending troops to the Middle East to fight the terrorists! I was no longer against sending US troops to fight foreign battles.

2) Though most Democrat politicians (including left-wing liberals like Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Charles Rangel and Neil Abercombie) supported the US invasion of Afghanistan, some Radical Leftists objected, and blamed America for 9/11. I was irritated by those Radical Leftists, and I wrote several editorials on Ka Leo criticizing them. I was then known by Ka Leo readers as the "campus conservative" even though I was NEVER conservative on issues like abortion, sex ed and other related issues.

In the last few years, I was also irriated by Radical Right-wingers who used 9/11 as an excuse to hate on immigrants! Ironic, they still haven't demanded on a ban on NY residents from moving to Oklahoma, even Bufallo NY raised Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma.

3) As for the war on Iraq, Collin Powell was right -- the US should've used over-powering force when it first invaded Iraq! That way, we could've easily defeated the Iraqi insurgents before it gotten worse! Though I would've preffered to have Saddam Hussein assassinated instead of an invasion.

Hopefully, the new Iraqi government can handle it's own defense. The longer we're there, the more the Radical Muslims would use that as an excuse to promote anti-American hatred!

4) I remember the few days after 9/11, Bush was a popular President. He said all the right words, America wanted revenge, and people wanted to trust the government.

Now Bush isn't popular. This came after the war on Iraq (which some felt was a distraction on the war against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan), as well as the mismanaged recovery after Hurricane Katrina. (which Bush made worse by hiring inexperienced people to head FEMA.) But some blame also ought to be placed on Democrat politicians running the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans.

People no longer trusted the government like they did right after 9/11/01. Even I went to back to being skeptical of the government like I was before 9/11/01.

5) As for my political views, I still don't support Democrats or Republicans, though I do think Libertarians are too impractical. Which is why I call myself a centrist!