Reflecting upon 9-11

Six years after the tragic events of 9-11, we have witnessed the following:

1) US military has not caught Osama bin Laden and has lost ground in Afghanistan since the initial invasion. President Karzai is basically bunkered down in Kabul, suicide bombings, which never took place before there, are on the rise and Afghanistan is the number grower of opium and supplier of Heroin to America.

2) Sectarian violence in Iraq is steadily rising in the last 18 months with approximately 4 million Iraqis displaced outside and inside the country, Sunni Arabs being the majority. There were no suicide bombings in Iraq from 1980 - 2002 according to Dr. Robert Pape, who started the first suicide terrorism database. Now, Iraq leads the world in terrorist attacks within its borders. The majority of the victims have been Muslims.

3) Islamophobia in the media and hate crimes against Muslims have exponetially increased in the last 5 years. Anti-Semitism is unacceptable in America and being overtly anti-Black may cost someone a job here or there such as Don Imus. Being anti-Muslim in many segments of our society is not only seen as acceptable, but it's seen as being patriotic.

4) World opinion of the USA has decline all over the world including Europe. Within the past year, non-Muslim extermists attacked our embassy in Greece. President Bush's recent visits to Europe were met with large protests, except in Muslim majority Albania.

In regards to the 9-11 attack, one of the biggest misnomers that Islamophobes proprogate is that Muslims do not speak out against terrorism and that no Muslim groups condemned 9-11. This is preposterous!

Following the 9-11 attacks, almost every major Islamic religious authority condemned the 9-11 terrorist attacks. In fact, nations and organizations who we have designated as terrorists such as Iran and Hamas condemned 9-11!

SEE Juan Cole's blog with list of those who condemned 9-11:
http://www.juancole.com/2005/07/friedman-wrong-about-muslims-again-and.html

Let's pray for peace and justice on this day.