If we fail to learn from the attacks of 9/11/01, we are more likely to see such acts repeated. They were abhorrent, but not “senseless.” They were carried out by cowards, but there were reasons for the attacks & why others in the World supported them. 1/6

First, we should not celebrate the day with shows of military strength. 1) Conventional military is not effective vs small bands. (See: U.S. revolutionary war; or Vietnam). 2) U.S. military support of and aid to dictatorships was part of the “why” for the atatcks. 2/6

Of 19 hijackers that day, 15 were from Arabia, where dissent is not allowed by the House of Saud. A convenient target was the country that props up royals on that peninsula. When we give more arms to dictators, no good can result. 3/6

Second, much of the rest of the World felt sympathy for us that day. Corporations saw a chance to cash in & used the opportunity to rake in hundreds of billions through military invasion of Iraq (a country w/no connection to the attacks) & 20 yrs of occupation of Afghanistan. 4/6

Those corporations mainly traffic in war: weapons, things to build weapons & things to support weapons. We took the World’s sympathy & voided our bladder in its face. If we seek to avoid such attacks in the future, we should seek World peace, not piece of the World. 5/6

The hijackers did not attack us because of jealousy over our “freedom.” Even if they had, our responses (the “Patriot Act” w/its expansion of a police state; heightened security at airports; voiding habeas corpus in Gitmo) impacted freedoms. Plus hate crimes went up. We did those parts to ourselves. 6/6