amarcord

Its clear to me that this cycle of violence has to stop if humanity is to survive. Terrorizing New York City cannot be justified any more than terrorizing orders of magnitude more people in a vengeful response can be justified.

The "war on terror" - and by terrorists - has directly killed a minimum of 62,006 people, created 4.5 million refugees and cost the US more than the sum needed to pay off the debts of every poor nation on earth. If estimates of other, unquantified, deaths - of insurgents, the Iraq military during the 2003 invasion, those not recorded individually by Western media, and those dying from wounds - are included, then the toll could reach as high as 180,000. - link

Has this war made us any safer? Bin Laden has yet to face justice and its not likely he will and there is no end in sight to either war. Do we even know the truth?

The fire fighters in Kabul, Baghdad, Lebanon, New York and all over the world are our heroes. Any fool can destroy peace, but the truly admirable create peace. The peacemakers - everywhere - they are my heroes. That's what I choose to remember.

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This was written in late September, 2001 by John O'Connor, a poet and labor organizer living in New York City.

My City

What if life were long
and eternity short?

In my city innocent people
are killed by a thunderous
terror from above. Vendors
in the street are pummeled
by rubble. Men and women
on their way to work are greeted
with the anonymous hatred
of those they have never met.
Janitors, businessmen, clerks,
cooks, construction workers, the rescue
workers who risk all to help these.
My beloved city showered with death.

We cry up and ask, in the midst
of the screams of loved ones,
why do they hate us so?
Why do they do this to our city,
to our lives?
My stomach turns in on itself.
The people I love, burning, dissolving,
dying. The city I love, attacked
from above. My brothers in agony.
My sisters. Children. Mothers. Dead.
Who would do this?
Why my beautiful city?
How do we survive this
but by breathing the city's name
over and over like a mantra, a prayer?
Baghdad, Baghdad, Baghdad.

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• The Dying Fire Fighter
• Reichstag Fire
• International Terrorists
• Promised Land
• Santiago
• The Next Attack
• From Kabul to Khartoum

MP3's by david rovics

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• September 11th, 1922: British mandate is proclaimed in Palestine.
• September 11th, 1941: The ground breaking ceremony of the Pentagon.
• September 11th, 1972: Munich Olympic Games where eleven Israelis are killed by terrorists.
• September 11th, 1973:Chilean President Salvador Allende is killed in a violent military & backed by the C.I.A..
• September 11th, 1977: Steven Biko is beaten to death in detention - declared dead the next day.
• September 11th, 1990: U.S. President George Bush (senior) addresses Congress on the Persian Gulf war.
• September 11th, 2001: Terrorists hijack four aircraft and destroy the WTC and damage the Pentagon.
• September 11th, 2006: marks the 100th Anniversary of Ghandi's Day of Non-violence

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• New Yorkers Tell Federal Officials To Stop Ignoring 9/11's Health Effects
  
  
  
  Hundreds of residents gathered last night at New York's St. Paul's Chapel - across the street from the former World Trade Center site --to demand the federal government stop ignoring the health effects from 9/11. We hear some of their voices.



• Civilian Casualties, Civilian Solutions: Family Members of 9/11 Victims Spearhead Movement Against War and Violence
  
  
  
  David Potorti lost his brother, James, at the World Trade Center on September 11th. Shortly after the attacks, David joined with other family members of those killed to form a group that called for peace. As President Bush announced his war on terror, they advocated for non-violence.



• Satyagraha 100 Years Later: Gandhi Launches Modern Non-Violent Resistance Movement on Sept. 11, 1906
  
  
  
  September 11th 2006 has a special significance. It not only marks the fifth anniversary of the attacks on New York and Washington, it also marks 100 years to the day that Mahatma Gandhi launched the modern nonviolent resistance movement. We speak with Gandhi's grandson, Arun,about "Satyagraha."