Wasted CLV said:I hope this doesn't come out and offend anyone, but I sometimes think that the US is like a teenager, who got punched in the mouth for the first time, standing in a room of old boxers. We can't believe "that happened to us!" So, we go around showing our wound to everyone to get a reaction.
The other thing is, there is a large amount of the population that just has no knowledge of what the rest of the world is going through. Seriously, we have book burners on the news, while mass graves are being filled. Yes, the information is out there, but it isn't always readily and easily accessible. You don't hear it on the radio driving to work, it doesn't pop up in the front page of Yahoo, so it must not be happening. No, that isn't an excuse, and it is sad. But, that doesn't change reality here, either.
I remember having a discussion here once before, about the Russian lives lost in WWII, and, honestly, I had no idea of the death toll until I took a 100 level World History class --during my senior year of college, when I was 33! I had taken other history classes in college and high school, but hadn't ever gotten the concept of what Russia had to go through, and how pivotal they were in the end of the war.
However, one thing that has come of this, for us here, is the fact that people have a strong belief in the military again. Unlike the Vietnam war, where military personnel were scorned, people are now feeling pride in what our men and women are trying to do (whether the politicians are doing the right thing or not).
Well said. Without wanting to pay any disrespect for the victims of 9/11, what this is mostly about is hurt pride. I understand it was a great shock to the US, and that shock still sits deep - but living in a country that still has total devastation in living memory, it becomes less understandable with every year.
In my defence, the links I provided were consciously chosen for post-WW2 events, and I don't claim the list to be exhaustive.