Have We Already Forgotten 9/11?
By Dan Cadman on September 11, 2019
Today is the 18th anniversary of the multiple terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001, which killed thousands.
Looked at with almost two decades of distance, those mass attacks seem like a near-inevitability because of the escalating scale of terrorist violence to which Americans were subjected over a significant period of time, going clear back to the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983 at least. But from the lens of the moment, 9/11 was a shock of such brutality that it pierced the national consciousness about exactly how dangerous our world had become — including to ordinary Americans going about their business in America, not some far-off land of twisted politics and ancient tribal hatreds.
It seems to me that in times of national tragedy or crisis, when there is a rendering of the nation's emotional fabric, we come together, we sloganeer as a shorthand way of expressing our outrage, solidarity and determination ("We will never forget"; "Boston strong"). We erect memorials and our politicians make fine speeches.
https://cis.org/Cadman/Have-We-Already-Forgotten-911
