SEPTEMBER 11 WAS NOT A NATURAL DISASTER

The closer we approach to the one-year anniversary of September 11th, the more depressed I get thinking about the media's frenzied efforts at commemoration programming. The main theme that has emerged is one of grief - personalized grief. We will be told of the lives of those who were "taken away" from us that day, who were "struck down by a cruel fate", whose great potential was "tragically cut short." All of which is necessary, but woefully insufficient. The reason is that such a retelling makes the cause of the tragedy irrelevant - all of these poignant vignants, interviews and memorials would need nary a revision had the World Trade Center been felled by a tornado rather than hijacked passenger jets. The words we use to refer to 9/11, therefore matter. It was not merely a senseless tragedy, a horrifying reminder of our vulnerability and mortality - it was a massacre. The tragic deaths, the incredible anguish of those they left behind, the scars upon all of our psyches were the desired end of meticulous planning and cold-blooded execution. The culprit was not natural amorality but human immorality. Yes, grief is an important emotion on this one-year anniversary, but we must also tap into the other emotions that have also dulled in the past year - anger, resolve and pride. For as much as we need to look back to remember those our enemies murdered one year ago, we need to look forward to thwart the massacres they plan to commit in the years to come. Remembrance, yes - closure, no.