1 Response to “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

1. Lucille says:

   September 10, 2021 at 6:39 pm

   Well done, CJ! And Bill does his usual fine thinking which makes others think in return. Thanks for posting, Stella!

   Yes, I do think that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were deterrents to the terrorists, as Bill relates. For a short period. However, the myopic Rules of Engagement plus no realistic stated purpose (and culture change was not at all what the average Afghan wanted) sowed the seeds of the ultimate defeat in August 2021 and the rise and re-rise of ISIS in other parts of the Islamic world. The Afghans always are wary of the “Strong Horse.” We became the weak one. Less than nine months into the Biden-Harris Administration no one, no nation anywhere respects or fears us.
   —————-

   On September 11th, not having listened to the radio or watched TV, I didn’t know anything about the attack until I arrived in my office around 8:40 AM PDT and some of the staff told me. After viewing everything possible on the Internet and saving countless personal stories, newspaper articles and photographs, a fragment of a short free-verse poem from my childhood collection for some reason came to mind. I thought about how calm the day before had been. Monday, September 10th had gone swimmingly well and the evening was the same. Such a tremendously horrible contrast with the 11th.

   Today I don’t remember who wrote the verse or much of the lines but these few words have come back to me every year…

   “I remember a day
   High-colored and warm
   An innocent day
   That did me no harm.
   With a flicker of blue jays high in the elm
   ….
   ….
   And nothing to mark it
   The day before death.”

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