Five Years Later

I know I haven't posted in awhile, and alot has changed since my last post. I want to do an update about what's going on in my life, but that will wait until another time. However, I didn't want this date to go by without posting a few of my thoughts.

Today is September 11th, 2006. All of you will remember the terrible events that took place five years ago today in New York City, Washington DC, and the crash of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Today will always be marked by the world as a horrible and senseless attack on the people of the United States of America. When talking about September 11th, especially as a liberal-minded university student living in Western Canada, the temptation always exists to take pot-shots at the American institutions of government, and the people who currently occupy those seats. Those of you who know me will know my opinions of George W. Bush, the current U.S. administration, and the wars currently being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you don't know, please feel free to ask me. I'm always up for a good debate/chat/discussion. You'll find that I am quite passionate about current world events. However, this post is not about that. This post is about an attack on innocent civilians perpetrated by criminals. No matter what preceeded it, no matter what excuse is dreamt up, the attack was completely and utterly without cause or justification. Today, I would like to extend my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the September 11th attacks. No, the world did not fundamentally change on 9/11/2001. Yes, certain people have used these attacks to justify further killings. However, that does not change the loss and the tragedy of the day. And even though other parts of the world have known tragedy equal to and exceeding the attack on the US that day, that reasoning does not negate the horrendousness of the 9/11 attacks. 2996 innocent people were murdered that day, and they should all be in our thoughts and memories. They will certainly be in mine, as will the memories of anyone in the world who is senselessly murdered in the name of rightousness.