The Aurora Review |
Fall 2004 |
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Tracy Rogers Three Years Gone and Nothing Learned A year and a half
after United States forces bypassed the United Nations and invaded Iraq,
coalition forces continue to fight a bloody, senseless battle in the cradle of
civilization. Over 1,000 coalition soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis
have been killed. New reports surface daily about beheadings of American
citizens. And, still there is no end in sight. There is no substantive link
between Iraq and al-Quaida, yet terror alerts continue to be issued.
Presidential candidates beat the war drum and play on the fears of the
population. September 11th has become an incessant battle cry, a tool for complete disregard of
international law. We are a nation suffering from post-traumatic stress
disorder, a nation allowing our own panic button to be pushed at will
by a small minority that is trying to control the population of this
country while raping and pillaging another in the name of “democracy”
and “freedom.”
September 11th
changed our lives dramatically. The impossible became not only possible but a
reality. Our sense of safety and well-being fell to the earth and shattered
into a million pieces with the heavy stone and steel walls of the World Trade
Center, leaving us susceptible to panic and fear at the slightest hint that
the same could happen again. With each orange alert and every insinuation
that a terror plot is in the works, we quiver and quake inside because we
know that it can happen
to any of us on any given day. We watched it happen on live television
not so very long ago. Politicians sense this fear and manipulate us to
serve their own
agendas. In this pivotal election
year, political ads and debates rage about who will be “toughest on terror”
and who will be the best Commander in Chief. It is a veritable theater of the
absurd in which the two main actors and their numerous spin doctors, pundits,
advisors, and hangers-on participate in a constant dialogue of useless
rhetoric intended to say anything and elucidate nothing. No one wants to
address the heart of the issue: there is only so much that can be done to
prevent terrorism. Airport security can be heightened. Our borders can be
closed. Our mail can be searched for biological agents. And, yes, we can try,
however fecklessly, to arrest or kill all the terrorists worldwide. But, such
acts only propagate the cycle of hatred and exacerbate the very terror we are
allegedly trying to quell. The continual bombings in Iraq only raise the
bounty on our collective heads as we continue to make more enemies and
perpetuate the stereotype of the United States as a culturally imperialistic
bully.
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Bleeding Heart byTiffany Montano |
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