Remembering 9-11

It doesn't seem possible that ten years have gone by already, but, checking back, I see I said the same thing last year and the year before. I remember very well waking up to the news that some jet had had an accident and flown into one of the WTC towers. Then, I watched along with millions of others as the second jet liner hit the other tower, proving to all that America was under attack. I had to drive up to the city that day for a dentist appointment (Monarch Dentistry -no joke) and although I was a little shaken up I thought there was no safer place to be considering the number of air force bases in the neighborhood. I remember in the immediate aftermath how jumpy everyone was, our sense of security had been shattered. Was this only the first wave? New York had been hit, the Pentagon, the Capital was targeted, what would be next? The following day someone called in a bomb threat on the Lincoln-Juarez bridge and the border with Mexico was shut down. It was the first time I had ever seen armed National Guardsmen on the U.S. side of the border and checkpoints. That was also the day when the 'Stars & Stripes' began to appear everywhere. Everyone had a flag. Businesses which had previously flown the U.S., Mexico and Texas flags now flew three U.S. flags. Where they had flown the six flags of Texas they flew six U.S. flags instead. It was as if the whole country were crowned with red-white-blue. It was a tragedy like none I had ever lived through before, making things like Oklahoma City and the Challenger pale in comparison. However, it also brought out feelings of solidarity, teamwork and patriotism and -no matter how often it is misused- I have always considered patriotism a good thing. The attacks also awoke America to a problem that had been brewing for some time but which most of the world had been content to ignore. The final outcome of that situation, remains to be seen.

Remember

Nine years ago today terrorists organized by Islamic radical Osama bin Laden attacked the United States by hijacking 4 jet liners to launch suicide attacks against key U.S. targets. Two planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one hit the Pentagon outside Washington DC and another, destined for either the White House or Capital Building, was retaken by passengers from the terrorists and crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside. Some 3,000 people were killed in the attacks making them the bloodiest act of terrorism in American history. Sympathy poured in from the rest of the world but, as a monarchist, one of the moments which most stuck in my mind was the image of Prince Charles, Prince Philip and the American ambassador to the Court of St James viewing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace with the guards band playing the "Star Spangled Banner" in honor of the atrocity visited on the United States.

Remembering September 11, 2001

It is hard to believe that eight years have passed since the 9-11 attacks. I remember that morning very well, being up early for a dental appointment. I turned on the news and the first tower had already been hit. Everyone thought it had been some kind of an accident until the second plane plowed into the other tower. I watched it happen and you could feel the tension as everyone knew America was under attack. Word came in of two more planes being hijacked and no one was sure just how widespread this disaster would be. I remember fighter jets flying air cover over Washington DC and as I drove south the next day the bridge to Mexico was sealed off and border agents were wearing body armor and carrying M-16's. It was like nothing I or anyone else had ever experienced before. Family members in the military were called to their bases and we knew it would only be a matter of time before the game of war was afoot. However, rather than reflect on the disaster of 9-11, keeping to the "theme" of this blog, I thought it appropriate to flesh out the monarchist dimension of this crisis.

It should surprise no one that the man responsible for 9-11, the infamous coward Osama bin-Laden, is a republican of sorts. Born in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia he is an avowed enemy of the Saudi monarchy and would like to see them replaced by a Taliban-style theocracy (picture a Sunni version of the Islamic Republic of Iran only worse and you'll be off to a good start). Likewise, it is worth remembering that the Taliban was only able to come to power after the rightful king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, had been overthrown in a coup by his prime minister. Following the destruction of the Taliban government it was, naturally, unthinkable to the US government to support the restoration of the King though he was finally able to return to his homeland and was declared the "Father of the Country" by the new republican government and, at least, monarchists were able to run for office and compete in national elections which was certainly not the case under the Taliban.

Alongside the US forces in Afghanistan many monarchies have contributed to the "War on Terror" including the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The 2003 invasion of Iraq by coalition forces proved more controversial but was at least similar to the Afghanistan case in that a usurping republican dictator was overthrown and monarchist parties were able to compete in the electoral process for the first time since the destruction of the Kingdom of Iraq in 1958 with the massacre of the King and Royal Family by pro-Marxist revolutionaries. Although that monarchy was something of a creation and certainly had its problems, it should be remembered that it was the last Iraqi government to have a working parliamentary system. So, the next time someone complains that the republic isn't working because Iraqis have "never had a democracy" you can point out that they did -under the monarchy! What the future holds for these new regimes and for the "War on Terror" or whatever the Obama government is calling it these days to avoid offending anyone, only time will tell. 9-11 is a day to remember and it should be for monarchists as well, remembering that the terrorist regimes in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq which have been the source of so much trouble all came to power through the death of monarchies and the radical terrorists who are still causing trouble today are just as anti-monarchy (seeing it as un-Islamic of all things) as any secularist republican.