what is it good for?

The 7th anniversary of September 11 brought back too many bad memories for me as I know it did for most Americans. I get squeamish every time I see the images from that day. Maybe it's because I spent weeks after that day filling my mind with the endless news coverage. Perhaps it's branded on my heart because Sarah and I traveled to NYC and saw Ground Zero with our own eyes one week after the towers fell. Whatever it is, I'll certainly never forget what I felt that day and the following weeks.

What I wish we could all forget is the warrior mentality that overtook American politics following 9/11. We're good, they're evil. We're right, they're wrong. Those who are not with us are against us. We were suddenly no longer invincible and that stung probably even more than the loss of innocent life. We were suddenly afraid of everything, and with good reason.

However, I wish we could go back and do things differently. There are several questions I would like to ask about our response to 9/11 and in my own feeble way, I'll try to answer them...we'll see how it goes. I'm trying to work these things out in my mind, so bear with me. At the heart of these thoughts is my growing sense of pacifism, my desire for peace, and my belief in God and that Jesus called Christians to love our enemies.

Should we have gone after Bin Laden? Yes, I think we should have focused all of our energy and attention on finding Bin Laden. I certainly don't know all of what went on in the planning of our invasion of Afghanistan, but it seems like we tried to take on too much all at once. I feel like after searching for him for a while, maybe we should have waited for a while instead of sending more and more troops leading to an occupation of the entire country. Would that have seemed cowardly? Maybe to some, but keep reading.

I have read that some estimate the cost of the War on Terror is going to hit upwards of $2 TRILLION, some reports aim closer to $4 trillion! Wow. And that is just government costs. That doesn't take into account the burdens that families have endured from losing loved ones, the lifetime of medical costs of those injured incur, the cost of $4/gallon gas on the nation, and the endless untold expenses. Is war just about money? No, but how would our world be different if we invested that money in peace-loving ideals instead of war?

What if we took $2 billion and invested in building schools, roads, small businesses, and water filtration in Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of dropping bombs? Do you think there would be so many people lining up at Al-Qaeda's door willing to wear a bomb? Probably not? That might sound foolish and I realize it's not as easy as it sounds. There are lots of things to consider here like international relations and corrupt governments. But isn't it always right to try to bless others?

What if we would have taken another few billion dollars to insure uninsured Americans? Or given more help to first-time home buyers, invested in public education, improved health care for veterans, or built more green energy infrastructure to wean ourselves off of foreign oil?

What if we would have avoided war with Iraq? That's a whole other story in and of itself.

I know these things were probably the furthest from our minds on 9/12/01, but maybe they should be on our minds now. How would we respond if something like that happens again? What can we do to help improve our image in the international community so fewer people hate us? What can we do to purge our addiction to oil (not just foreign, but all oil)?

These questions are one more reason I cannot support McCain/Palin. They are both incredibly divisive people when it comes to foreign policy. In today's world, I don't think we can stand up and say we are good and they are evil. If we do that, we are getting into the same game as the Islamic extremists. We need to find ways to bless our enemies (and more specifically the people who are oppressed by our enemies) which the Bible clearly tells us is the best way.

I feel like Obama would be the best at reaching out to our enemies to work things out diplomatically. He has said he will open talks with adversaries. I also saw a poll of about 20 other countries who said they would rather see Obama win the presidency and the Queen of Jordan expressed her desire for the United States to reinstate itself as a leader of inspiration, hope, and ideas in the world. To me, Obama has the best shot at doing that.