On the day of September 11, I was still living in Iran. When the news broke out I was in school and everyone, including myself were surprised and terrified of what had just happened. This, the teachers and my principal told us brought speculation of war breaking out between the Middle East and the United States of America. Having been at such a young age (10 or 11) I didn't really know how to feel or react to the situation, neither did I know why for some reaosn my reaction seemed to match that of those around me. However I could feel the apprehension and uneasiness of the teachers in the school and surrounding adults. I do remember though mentioning of "terrorist groups" being involved in the attack against the Twin tower buildings.
When the school day ended, I went home to find my father watching the televison which was showing what I was told in school that very same morning. I recall seeing the two buildings collapsing to the ground and debris everywhere. People were crying, screaming, and shouting. Of course I couldn't help but feel sad for them. I was really confused and unsure of the feelings I felt. My father told me briefly of what happened and the rumors surroudning the attack. He said they believed terroritst plotted and carried out the attack on America and eventually, soon infact, a war would break out. None of this made sense to me, but the one I was aware of was that we had just become the enemies. For the following days, maybe even weeks, my parents were glued to the television trying to keep informed on what was happening in the States, and the action they were going to take. In the following days it was established that a well known terrorist group called Al- Qaeda was to blame for the attack and fingers were also being pointed at Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin- Laden with speculation they may have had an involvement in the attacks as well.
Any violence towards human beings is unjusitified and I guess we will never know why the attack happened or who exactly did it, although America claims that they found the real attackers but can we really believe what they say? I won't lie, I am anti- America for too many reasons I won't go into but I still believe there is more to the story than what we are told.
I personally recall that I was not deeply affected by the attacks because truthfully, it was not relevant to me. I did however sympathize with the victims of the attacks. From watching the daily, live broadcasts of it I saw people crying, screaming, shouting, and helplessly trying to contact their loved ones who were in the buildings. I remember seeing debris everywhere and what looked like people jumping out of the buldings. The footage did move me because I don't think I was so detached that I felt no emotion towards an obviously serious and saddening situation. I do believe though that had in fact I known someone who was a victim to thet attacks my reaction would have been different. To me, it was obviously a sad time but I was at such a young age that I could not fully understand or appreciate the intensity of it.
My family was not that affected by the event either, but my father would constantly talk about how this was not a good thing for the Middle East. He would often go on of how he feared that the aftermath of the attacks would eventually bring war to all Middle East. This was also confusing to me as I did not understand why we were going to be involved in war. It didn't hit me until my family and I moved to Canada what the true affects of the 9/11 were. I came to the conclusion that war and violence is unjustified and no one ever wins, we all lose. We all lose because innocent victims die because of it. I realized that who ever planned the attacks on the twin towers were playing the role of God. The lives of the people in the building was in the hands of the attackers because they did not get a chance to decide their death, or even know they were going to die. This realization gave a greater appreciation of the time we are given to live life. It goes to show that you don't know when someone is going to play God and take away your life.
Because of the fact that I am older now, I can say that the attacks were unnecessary, unjustified, and they caused great pain and resulted in a great loss for all those affected by it. The aftermath of 9/11 did in fact lead to war, which is still on going today and the cause of millions more people dying. What started out as a great tragedy, created an even greater one and that is not the way it should have been. The killings should have stopped after September 11th, and they should now.
- Mostafa Al- Shammary
