Never Forget

It is said so many times. Never forget. But what should we never forget?

I earned my undergrad in Criminal Justice at Georgia State University. As part of my studies, I took a terrorism class. And, of course, we studied 9/11.

I will not get into much of the details, but a few key things I learned.

*All of the conspiracy theories about bombs in the towers or no plane hitting the Pentagon are bullsh(a)t. The government would have no point in shooting a rocket into the Pentagon and then crashing the plane later, so why is that a popular theory? Won't it make more sense to actually fly the plane into the building? And simply flying planes into the buildings is enough to create panic and chaos, even if they didn't come down. There is no need to risk getting caught planting bombs throughout the building, so why would the government do that? Also, if the government is going to kill innocent people and stage a "terrorist act", why would they bomb the building to implode? That's another popular theory is that the government planned it to implode like a demolishion and not fall over, causing even more damage. It is unrealistic to think the government planned to kill thousands, but drew the line against the building falling over because that might kill even more. DON'T FORGET, ignorance and following false leads distracts from the real mission of fighting those that mean to harm us.

*Terrorism is not just from the outside, but much of it is within. The skinheads, the innercity gangs, the cults. They are terrorists. And the Oklahoma City bombing. All domestic. DON'T FORGET, examine all enemies of the United States and do not assume they are all foreign.

*Racism and religion are the source of most acts of terrorism. DON'T FORGET, one man's radical theories and horrible acts are another man's salvation.

*The entire point of their actions is not to kill, but to create fear. Death tends to do that and is often the brush they choose to paint with. But that's normally not the ultimate goal. It's to have you scared enough to do that they think is best. DON'T FORGET, they cannot win unless we allow them to win.

*It is impossible to eliminate all terrorism. It is possible to prevent certain actions and those steps should be taken, but the terrorists will survive. And they will dedicate their existence to winning. DON'T FORGET, there will be another attack.

*The chances of being killed by terrorists is extrodinarily rare, and the fear of death should not be a deterrant from living our lives. Certain precautions should be taken and a person is ultimately responsible for their own safety. DON'T FORGET, you are your own keeper and you should live precautiously, not in fear.

*People did died. DON'T FORGET, or they died in vain.

*This is not a fight for law enforcement to take as usual. DON'T FORGET, terrorism is not a criminal act so much as a moral one. It requires a different mind frame to understand and counter.

*We couldn't believe this could happen before it happened. We demanded change to help insure our safety. And then people got mad at the inconveiance of the change. Is it perfect change? No. But it is something. Something else that police do that is perfectly reasonable and a needed crime fighting and terrorist fighting tool is profiling. Yes, profiling is good. If it is not for profiling, we are always on the defensive side. Profile based on action is a necessary position that has to be accepted and not demonized. DON'T FORGET to let the police fight the battle in the way that works best, despite knee-jerk oppositions to the idea.

*Finally, DON'T FORGET, move forward. Live. Be happy. Unless you are a terrorism expert actively working in an offical capacity for a government agency, it does you no benefit to constantly worry about the threat of terrorism. You don't know everything going on, and that is for the best so you can live and we can fight them without showing all our hands. Use caution, sure. If you are at a public event and a van pulls up where it shouldn't be, weighted down in the back and men run from it. Yeah, that's alarming and should be immediately reported. Backpack just left somewhere? Probably just someone forgot it, but don't go picking it up. Man tries to light his shoe or underwear on fire during a plane flight? I'm all for tackling, detaining, and putting the hurt on that SOB. But still, DON'T FORGET, Live. Be happy.

So when I say "NEVER FORGET", that's what I mean.

Tomorrow, we return to normal colors here at Hockey Cop because we will survive. We will live on. And we will not let the terrorist win. One small symbol of this is returning to life, and that is that we will do.

We've already seen some of the tragedy. Here, we see some of the efforts to move forward from the world of sports.