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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Surprised by tears on 9/11 - Loss and deep love mark America's sacred day

Posted on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 04:25 PM

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I was surprised by how many tears I shed yesterday on 9/11.

I though I had let the raw emotion of that event pass me by in the ten years since, but it quickly resurfaced from early morning.

The children reading out the names of their dead relatives at that wonderful dignified ceremony at Ground Zero moved me deeply.

The moments of silence when the dreadful events happened, at 8.46 when the first plane struck and so on, were poignant and deeply painful as we recall the moment our old world ended and a more threatening one began.

Suddenly , once again, and very powerfully those who died became real. One child remembered her dad's wonderful smile, another little girl remembered how he used to put her to bed and his good night kiss.

Those were little treasured memories saved from the wreckage of the awful day and you needed a heart of stone not to be moved by it

I can only imagine what i t was like for the direct families who lost loved ones, but I found myself back again in that awful day when I first glimpsed the Twin Towers on fire from the roof top of my apartment building.
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The years in between have not buried those memories, or never will now.

'Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea' the poet Swinburne once wrote. I feel for some of the families that point has not been reached and it is a lifelong journey.

As for the rest of us we can only marvel at the strength that has kept them going, raising kids, getting on with life over the past decade

I was on a radio show in Ireland yesterday arguing with Middle East expert Robert Fisk abut 9/11. He cast it in part as Bin Laden gaining vengeance for the Palestinians,

I argued strongly that Bin Laden never cared a fig for the Palestinians, but was a Middle East Zealot, in the same way Hitler was a German fascist, seeking world power and domination.

My point was that Bin Laden killed many Muslims in New York that day too .

They were all innocent victims and portraying in any other grandiose terms seems nonsense to me.

What we witnessed yesterday was the antidote to all that hate, a remembrance full of solemnity, caring and compassion. It did America proud.

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ceceann | Sep 16, 2011, 01:15 PM EDT

Is this the same O'Dowd who wrote "9/11 not worth remembering as victims set to suffer even more" on August 30th --? Change of heart? Amnesia?

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wizardofoz | Sep 15, 2011, 08:04 AM EDT

Allen, you should never hang your hat on anything you hear on fox news, or any other mainline media outlets they are misinformation masters, and part of the problem, even their weather reports, in the main, are rubbish. Here is that link to Dick Cheney, in an unguarded moment, he forgot and let slip, Bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FftI0U2Gm9s

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wizardofoz | Sep 15, 2011, 07:56 AM EDT

Thank you for your measured response, Allen. All liars need a good memory or sooner or later they will slip up and declare the truth even if it is unintentional. Bin Laden never had the nous or the ability to pull off 9/11. Such a massive operation could only be attempted by a much more sophisticated organization. This is what Bin Laden told the BBC. "I have already said that I am not involved in the September 11 attacks in the United States. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children, and other humans as an appreciable act. There exists a government within the government of the United States. That secret government must be asked as to who carried out the attacks.... The United States should trace the perpetrators of these attacks to those persons who want to make the present century a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own nation could survive." (Source:BBC) Here is a link to Dick Cheney, in an unguarded moment, stating Bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11.

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allentown | Sep 13, 2011, 11:24 PM EDT

Wizardofoz, thank you for saying I was misled and not lying. However, Associated Press and Fox New report on October 30, 2004 "Bin Laden Claims Respnsibility for 9/11". The report goes on to say that in a video taped interview released by Al Jazeera Bin Laden tells how he ordered the attack on 9/11.

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wizardofoz | Sep 13, 2011, 09:34 AM EDT

Allentown, you are mislead! Nowhere can you point to an admission to the crime by bin laden. But, go right ahead; post your so-called link to his confession. You can’t, because as I say, the FBI has no proof linking him to that crime. If you know otherwise, lets hear it! Floors all yours.

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cormacmac | Sep 12, 2011, 08:37 PM EDT

The ceremony was deeply touching and dignified. I wept too. So did the world.

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peterson | Sep 12, 2011, 02:27 PM EDT

As New york Mayor Bloomberg demanded, NO PRAYERS were said at the service publicly !!!!

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allentown | Sep 12, 2011, 12:06 PM EDT

Bin Laden admitted in a video interview with a Pakistani reporter back in 2002 that he was responsible for 9/11.

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patrickesq | Sep 12, 2011, 11:46 AM EDT

What an irony that the terrible, cruel, hateful attacks of 9/11 sparked and generated such powerful positive energy for compassion, caring love and community in the US and throughout the world. Life is too sacred to succumb to the forces of diabolic zealots.

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citizen69 | Sep 12, 2011, 11:44 AM EDT

If any country was responsible for producing the people involved in this attack then it was Saudi Arabia but of course it's rulers were good buddies of the Bush family. Whichever b*****ds it was who planned this they sowed much more seeds of sorrow, destruction, fear & death than they could ever have wished for... and it still continues today as more innocents suffer in endless conflict.

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joan1954 | Sep 12, 2011, 11:40 AM EDT

Bin-Ladin's access to money paid for those pilots who flew into the towers to learn how to fly planes in the US.

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wizardofoz | Sep 12, 2011, 11:03 AM EDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FftI0U2Gm9s And here http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1472201/pg1

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wizardofoz | Sep 12, 2011, 10:55 AM EDT

Bin-laden killed no one that day. There is not one iota of proof bin laden had anything to do with what happen that day. On the FBI internet site they list Bin-laden as a terrorist wanted for the SS Cole bombing, when asked why he was not top of the list for the WTC bombings the answer was given “we have no evidence liking him to that event” Here’s a link where you can hear Dick Cheney, admit no evidence to support bin laden had anything to do with 9/11, you people need to wise up!

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wizardofoz | Sep 12, 2011, 10:54 AM EDT

OK, I'll try one more time.

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wizardofoz | Sep 12, 2011, 10:53 AM EDT

Crap! testing 123. I can't for the life of me get a post posted here?

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