9/11 Remembered

September 11, 2001, a day whose images are imprinted on many minds around the world who witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center, Twin Towers in New York. We watched horrified as the plane slammed into those tall towers, watched the firing inferno eventually bring the towers down. I remember going into work as normal, sitting and watching the stock quotes flicker in mad frenzy, not realizing the chaos that was befalling in New York.

As soon as the news flashed on CNN of the first crash on the TV in my bosses office, we were all crowding around it watching with wildly beating hearts at the scenes unfolding. Of course the rest of the day was not the same, it was not the same for all of us. The horror of people burning live, jumping off building to certain death, trapped on the floor or in the stairwell and of the eventual burial as the building collapsed. How many families watched the horror watching the fate of their loved ones.

The day changed many things for all of us. We could no longer walk carefree through the security at the airport. We could no longer enter United States for a holiday or to visit family without facing a barrage of questions. Those of us who are brown skinned and happen to be born in certain part of world found ourselves being pulled aside for more questioning. It also brought invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq.

Did the terrorist attack bring the desired result for the organization that carried out? Did it bring world peace? Did it make life better for the poor man in the poorest parts of the world?

We have seen videos why this attacks happened, we have heard of the holy war, we heard of the grievance against the US for it's foreign policy, of the presence of foreign troops in the Middle East countries. Did the attacks bring about change that they wanted? Did the violence change anything? I or you cannot answer this, only the masterminds behind this attacks can answer them.

But I know every year we will only remember the loss of innocent lives, the desruction of families and the futility of using violence to change things.