September 11, 1973
Commemorations, memorials, and vigils where held nationwide on September 11, 2010 to remember the lives lost from the World Trade Center attacks of 2001. But on that day, something extremely odd happened (which happens every year). Along with appropriately mourning the dead, many Americans decided to display their feelings of patriotism toward their country. If only Americans remembered what happened on September 11, 1973, they would not have behaved so inconsiderately and hypocritically.
Before September 11, 2001 there was September 11, 1973, except on that day, Americans were the terrorists. The country of Chile experienced a military coup lead by the United States government. The insurrection resulted in many horrific consequences. Democratically elected president Salvador Allende was dead, a 17-year fascist dictatorship began under Augusto Pinochet, a few thousands of innocent people were executed, and plenty more were tortured and imprisoned.
As the so-called bearers of democracy and freedom, the United States showed none of these qualities on that infamous day. Instead they showed their true colors. This was US imperialism in its most crude form, it was raw terror.
So, how could Americans even dare to have pride in a country that committed far worse atrocities than Al-Qaeda? Surely some may recall the coup in history. The reason is because that it is the American way to do so. Hypocrisy is imbedded in American culture. In America we condemn terrorism while also being the largest terrorist state on earth. September 11, 1973 is just one example of this.
The American people and government share the following in common: they rarely acknowledge their wicked actions against other peoples/countries. Not because they are ashamed of them, but because they do not want to appear to have evil intentions for the people of the world in order to maintain their dominance, although in reality, they really do.
Our government makes us think we have the inalienable right to maneuver across the globe and shape it in the way we think it should look. However, the minute another country wants to intervene in our business or attack us on our soil, they make it look like the action was a sin against god. Eventually, they force the following idiotic question on the American public, “How could anyone ever hate us?” Only an ignorant person would ponder on this question as if it were a real brain buster. The question appears to be puzzling to the untrained ear but it really isn’t. They hate us because we exude unadulterated disregard for the well being of others in the world.
The American patriot looks at his eternally red stained hands and sees the blood that is not his. He knows he is responsible for it being there but refuses to acknowledge it and goes along with his day knowing that his previous actions have secured his hegemony. He cannot even distinguish the blood from being of Latin America, Asia, Africa or the Middle East. He just knows it is foreign blood and tries to hide it by putting his hands in his pockets. The only problem is his hands are too big for his pockets. So his actions are there for the world to observe and recall.
Black militant George Jackson said it best when he described Western governance in his book Soledad Brother as such, “Prying, nosy, schizophrenic, domineering, psychoneurotic people press you from all sides. They remain in a continual state of agitation, always on the brink of doing something maniacal!”