911

There are places in the world where spirits abide. Where you can feel their presence in the air. The ancient Mayan city of Tulum is one of these places. So is a cold desolate piece of the North Atlantic Ocean, where the Titanic went down. And so is a patch of ground in the middle of New York City, known as Ground Zero.

Five years ago today a group of spiritually deranged human beings commandeered two commercial airliners full of hundreds of fellow human beings, and vast amounts of highly volatile aviation fuel, and flew them into the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center. The hundreds of people working in the towers above the point of impact had to choose between being burned alive in the ensuing inferno, or jumping out of a broken window and falling hundreds of feet to be smashed on the pavement below.

A few on the ground floors managed to get out of the buildings and fled in terror. But although the buildings survived the impact of the collisions, as they were designed to, they did not survive the fires. The heat generated by the aviation fuel quickly became so intense it weakened some of the upper steel support beams, and they collapsed, starting a chain reaction that brought down both buildings in a matter of seconds, killing many hundreds more that were still inside, and all the emergency personnel trying to rescue them. When the dust cleared, 2,749 people were dead.

It was an unprecedented act of terrorism perpetrated deep within the borders of the most powerful country on Earth, and the world was suddenly a much different place. A war had begun that was soon to get completely out of control, as wars are apt to do.

Within a few short weeks, while the collective compassion and love of the entire world was laid on the U.S. doorstep, the people behind the attacks were identified, and we found out where they lived. World wide sorrow turned to outrage, and countries all over the planet were falling over each other to get in line behind the U.S. to go get these people who had done this terrible thing.

And over in a parallel universe somewhere, all the nasty terrorists were either caught or killed, all the soldiers went home, and everybody lived happily ever after.

Unfortunately though, back here in this universe, things didn't go so well. Back here in this universe, there was another spiritually deranged human being nobody had counted on, who was about to screw things up in a very big way. His name was George W. Bush. Instead of finishing the war against the 911 perpetrators, he took his armies and started a war against another country that had nothing to do with 911.

And since he did this against the strong opposition of virtually every other country around the globe, all the same countries that had been overflowing with sympathy and good will, were now overflowing with disapproval and anger. After the 911 attacks, the U.S. was getting hugs and kisses from virtually the entire world. In a few short months George W. Bush managed to squander all those good feelings, and turn the United States into the most hated country on the planet. Well done, George.

But I digress. Yes, the world changed on that dreadful day. The age of innocence was no more. The free ride was over. Growing up is never fun, whether it's as an individual or a species, but that's not what's important today. The evil repercussions of the acts of madmen could fill a book, and I have only a few more sentences. No, the important thing on this unhappy anniversary is to honour the memory of the dead. To remember that five years ago today, a small piece of our planet was thrust into the fires of hell, and 2,749 innocent souls were wrenched from existence, for no good reason.

It is said that to visit the memorial at Ground Zero is to experience a deep sense of reverence, and a distinct feeling that you are not alone.

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