it was one of those days – if you are 20 or above, i bet you can remember exactly where you were or what you were doing when the news broke.
me, i sat at my desk in northampton, working for what was then Hertz Lease, an american company. when the news started breaking, i hit the web, reuters, CNN, BBC – hungry to see what was going on.
As the day progressed – i could not have imagined, not even in my darkest dreams, what i would be seeing on the internet and tv. Not even Hollywood could have thought of a plot so gruesome. I sat, in complete bewilderment, completely lost for words – completely
Last night i watched a documentary on that day and the days after. It wasnt usual media crap, it was clips from ordinary people who had recorded events for themselves.
for all of you that consider our and their politicians war mongers, i urge you to think again.
one clip , a woman was filming the buildings collapsing from a very close distance. as she stood in the street filming the dust cloud billowing toward her, she suddenly realised the severe gravity of her situation. She kept filming, her voice was recorded as she began panicking after realising her life was seriously at risk.
she started back pedalling along the street , still with her camera filming , her voice cracking under the strain and pressure of what was about to bear down upon her. Suddenly, from no-where an office door opened and a man shouted to her to get in – he grabbed her and dragged her inside – she was halfway to being a complete gibbering wreck by now when silently, the cloud of dust passed by the glass frontage of the building. The cloud was so thick and heavy that it completely blocked out all of the daylight – remember, this was just after 10am.
She realised that this stranger had litterally saved her life and began her thankyou´s accompanied by gallons of tears. at the same time she kept filming, panning across the reception counter where her two rescuers were cowering. I have never seen this level of fear on a mans face. it could not be matched by an actor, this man seriously doubted that he would get out alive as the thick clound of toxic dust passed them by.
Another woman told the programme how she filmed what she initially thought to be debris falling from the building. As the video played, she narrated, telling the audience that eventually she realised that it wasnt debris, it was infact people jumping from 80+ floors up because i assume they felt their chances of survival were better with a jump than they were staying put.
Now think back in history, way before i was even born. remember the japanese attack on pearl harbour. similar i guess for its day. a surprise attack with no warning. Americas ultimate response to that threat was a nuclear bomb.
in the days that followed september 11th, many people all over the world were probably waiting for america to release their nuclear capabilities on their newest biggest enemy. instead a calculated response was thought.
but in these modern times, bombs and bullets are not the only weapons. the media play a bigger part than any of that – and do they want to show you a balance of news? no – they want to load it to either discredit their leaders of to make it more saleable to the viewing public.
so do we sit back and hope such attacks wont be repeated or do we realise that in modern times, when dealing with fanatics, we may have to strike first or god forbid, kill our enemy!! anyway, the media…..
The November Archives 