Pentagon celebrates 9/11 with big party

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Or force me to invade his country.

Or force me to make up a reason to invade his country that turns out to be 100% wrong. But that's his fault, not mine. I RAQ AND ROLL!

Ryan

[Dob]

I thought this commentary in The Daily Reckoning did a nice job of summing up (with some humorous exaggerations) of what seems to be the general American attitude. Edited by me for brevity.

Americans now depend on the savings of Communist China in order to pay for their lifestyles...and their wars to make the world safe for democracy. Subconsciously, they've come to believe what imperial people always seem to believe - that their society is so superior that the rest of the world longs to be just like them.

That's the premise behind the billions of dollars Americans are investing in China. China is still run by veterans of various Great Leaps Forward, but Americans are convinced that they're all becoming just like us - capitalists and democrats at heart! So vain are we that we can't imagine anyone wanting to be anything else.

Likewise, we were just down in Nicaragua. We have a house down there and buy more land whenever we get an opportunity. Nicaragua is a third-world country that was run by communists until a few years ago. Even now, the nation's politicians are debating a proposed law that would declare all land within 200 meters of high tide "public." In effect, we'd all lose our land, our houses, and the money we've invested down there. But none of us quite believe it will happen. Because we're convinced that they all want to be just like us - and we'd never do such a thing.

And of course, the invasion of Iraq was based on the same sort of thinking. All we have to do is to get the dictator off their backs and the men will start building shopping malls and the women will all start dressing like Britney Spears.

France once had a worldwide empire - with subject countries and colonies in Africa, the West Indies and the South Pacific. France had one of the most powerful armies on earth. For many generations, the French believed they had the finest culture, the best schools, and most advanced scientists, and the most dynamic builders in the world. France saw its mission as bringing the benefits of its civilization...of vin rouge and the Rights of Man...to the rest of the globe.

But now it's our turn. It is we Americans who think we have the best culture, the best economy, the best government, and the best army the world has ever seen. Now, it is we who have the burden of the "mission civilisatrice." It is our duty to bring freedom and democracy to this tattered old ball; our president said so.

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This probably isn't exactly safe for work (no images, but plenty of imagery):

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2005/09/ ... f-911.html

Ryan

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After going through the process of registering and clearing security for the "freedom" walk, you get some fake dog tags! Just the thing for all the gung-ho pro-war chickenhawks fighting for our freedom from the safety of their La-Z-Boys.

http://liberalavenger.com/2005/09/freed ... -tags.html

Ryan

[Rspaight]

I'm at work today, so I'm unable to take in the glory of this event on C-Span.

But according to posters over at Eschaton, whatever country act is currently onstage just fired up a rendition of Warren Zevon's "Poor Poor Pitiful Me".

I am speechless.

Ryan

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Honoring Terror's Victims and Supporting the Troops

By GLEN JUSTICE and JOHN FILES
Published: September 12, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 - Striding behind a military color guard, thousands of marchers cut a broad swath through the capital on Sunday in a walk organized by the Defense Department to commemorate the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and to support American troops.

Most of the marchers began at the Pentagon, not far from where a hijacked American Airlines plane slammed into the building four years ago. A far more intimate crowd of about 350 began walking at a memorial ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery, where many of the victims are buried.

The two groups observed a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m., the time of the crash, before starting the march, with many wearing the free commemorative T-shirts and military-style dog tags the organizers provided to participants. The columns of marchers converged on the Virginia side of Memorial Bridge, walked across it into Washington and strode onto the National Mall, where they ate picnic lunches as the country music singer Clint Black wound through a patriotic set.

"This is a special day, a day of remembrance, of tribute," Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld told the crowd. "This is the first march for freedom. Looking at the size of this crowd, I suspect it won't be the last."

The event was criticized by opponents of the Iraq war as a flag-waving exercise orchestrated by the Bush administration at a time when public opinion over the war is deeply divided. The Washington Post withdrew as a sponsor of the walk last month, citing its need to maintain objectivity. Other sponsors included The Washington Times and WTOP radio in Washington.

"Today's so-called Freedom Walk sponsored by the Pentagon is a cynical exercise in an effort to shore up sagging support for the president and his war policy in Iraq," said Brian Becker, the national coordinator for a group called Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, which is organizing a large antiwar demonstration here on Sept. 24.

Pentagon officials said Sunday's walk was simply a commemorative event.

"Unfortunately, some people think it's something that it's not," said Bryan G. Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said last week. "But we understand that perspective. You have a different perspective when you were sitting in the building that day."

More than 15,000 people registered online to participate in the walk. Pentagon officials could not say how many showed up in 80-degree weather to complete the 1.7 miles, though it was clear that there were several thousand people.

Some participants had friends and relatives who are serving in Iraq or who were killed when Flight 77 crashed, and came bearing pictures and memorabilia. Others worked for the government, and were encouraged by their bosses to attend.

Carlos M. Gutierrez, the secretary of commerce, and Jim Nicholson, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, both issued statements urging employees to take part in the walk.

"I strongly encourage all commerce employees to join together in support of our country and the brave men and women who defend it," said Mr. Gutierrez in an e-mail and telephone message to employees.

At the cemetery, Mr. Rumsfeld gave a somber speech, commemorating those who have died and calling for renewed vigor in the battle against terrorism. "We did not begin the war on terror, but we will win it," he said. Later, the mood lightened considerably as the secretary, sweating in charcoal pinstripes, was mobbed by supporters on his way across the Memorial Bridge. His staff and bodyguards struggled to accommodate the crush of well-wishers and picture takers that threatened to halt his progress altogether.

War protesters were in short supply. When two did appear along Mr. Rumsfeld's path, one carrying a sign saying, "Bush is a Liar," an aide accompanying Mr. Rumsfeld, Allison Barber, encouraged walkers to begin chanting "U.S.A." The chant was short-lived.

Earlier in the day, several protesters appeared to run into trouble with the large police presence at the Pentagon and along the route. One man who registered for the walk was detained by a Pentagon police officer after he slipped a black hood over his head and produced a sign that read, "Freedom?"

The man was removed from the Pentagon registration area, handcuffed and taken away in a police car. It was not clear whether he was charged or simply detained and the police did not respond to messages requesting more information.

Ann Grossman, 56, from Silver Spring, Md., also carried a homemade sign, which read "Honor Our Troops, Respect Their Lives," that was confiscated by police at the Pentagon. Ms. Grossman registered to participate in the walk, saying she did so to voice her opposition to the Iraq war, and she was allowed to participate without the sign.

"I am totally against this administration and totally against this war," Ms. Grossman said.