9/11 consequences linger after 6 years

9/11/07
So much has come and gone since that day six years ago, so much of our lives has been consumed by its aftermath, that it’s hard to recall the shock that accompanied the unprecedented terrorist attacks on this date in 2001. The world was in many ways a different place that morning, and we’re still sorting out the changes.
We’re fighting a war in Afghanistan, where the people who attacked us were based. We’re also fighting in Iraq, which had no apparent links to the attacks, but whose invasion was deemed a matter of urgent national security. We’re also, in the words of many national leaders, involved in a generational struggle the equivalent of past showdowns against fascism and communism.
Whether that’s true or not is another matter, one that will be discussed frequently as contenders line up to replace President Bush as his time in office comes to a close. But as the unfolding campaign makes clear, there is nothing about the attack, our response, its causes or the question of “why do they hate us” that isn’t ripe for politicization. Just once, it would be nice to hear a public figure talk about what happened that day and not wonder what that person’s motive is.
Some problems continue to manifest themselves. The health of workers who spent months cleaning up the debris at the World Trade Center site has been in the news as more people complain of problems and evidence grows that public officials were negligent in detailing the dangers. A fast cleanup was most important; knowing what exactly all those people were breathing in every day could come later.
Later has arrived, and now people are sick and dying. The people who took great risks to seek survivors and expedite the cleanup deserved better then, and must not now be denied the best care or, ultimately, the truth about what they’re facing.
We’ll never be back in a pre-9/11 world, but the extent to which our lives have changed remains puzzlingly uncertain. So much is the same, so few are asked to sacrifice and most people could go days without thinking about our supposed new reality. We can only wonder whether we’re living in the precursor to yet another era-defining event, one that truly would put us into a collective mind frame that nothing can ever be the same.