September has a stigma. Summer ends, school begins. Labor Day brings with it tidings of a new season. Amongst all the hubbub of school supplies and stowing away our white apparel until next spring is the ominous anniversary of the events that took place on Sept. 11, 2001.
Vivid memories pierce our cognitive catalogs, creating an internal reminder of the emotions that flooded us all on that day ten years ago. The ashes have been swept away, but our hearts are wounded, still. And yet, we are forced to accept, ten years have passed.
Particularly, our incursion in Iraq and Afghanistan has marred the past decade, covering our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends.
We’ve tagged the Afghanistan War as the longest United States history has seen, and many argue that it was for naught. On that same note, non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were an embarrassment that have played a large role in the Middle Eastern country’s current discord.
Amongst all the efforts that Americans have led to rebuild following the destruction of 9/11 — Afghanistan and Iraq has done the same. The bombs have wreaked havoc much in the same way the violence has in the U.S., and their struggles are similar to our own.
Although both of the countries are slowly recovering, they are also making immense movements in the right direction.
Examples of this are seen in nonprofit organizations that have become a beacon of change amongst the backward thought and corruption that impair both Iraq’s and Afghanistan’s improvement.
A prime example is Khaled Hosseini, an Afghani native and U.S. citizen. He is also the president and founder of the Khaled Hosseini Foundation. Following in the wake of the events in 2001, this organization sought to help the men, women and children that were easily blindsided by the abrupt violence and change in their homelands.
Specifically, they provide shelter to refugee families, education and health care opportunities for women and children, on top of scholarships for women hopeful to pursue higher education.
Another example of colossal change can be seen in the end of one regime, and the beginning of another.
Iraq is now immersed in Arab Spring, the democratic movement sweeping the Middle East, the dawn of a new era, after an icy and long-drawn winter.
Following 9/11, Saddam Hussein became one of America’s first enemies; blaming him for the catastrophic event was easy. Although we now know he wasn’t a direct culprit, the event inadvertently put Hussein amongst a category of people that needed to be removed from power, and rightfully so.
Behind the destruction of oil fields and the invasion of Kuwait, Hussein singlehandedly kept weaker countries at his beck and call and also had Iraq clenched tightly in his grasp. The symbolic destruction of his statue in Firdos Square in 2003, and his execution in 2006, was a call for revolution to Iraqi citizens.
At this point, the current administrations in both Afghanistan and Iraq are far from ideal. However, they are the epitome of precocious governance with the hopes of a functioning ease. Grassroots organizations can overthrow a seemingly impenetrable tyrant.
Another bright sight in a bleak situation is the Obama administration’s current effort to withdraw troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. This will not only bring our troops home, but will allow both of the developing countries to thrive of their own accord.
Improvements haven’t come as easily as we’d hope, certainly after the events that occurred, but both sides of the spectrum are making a clear effort. Rather than stigmatizing September, a seemingly downcast month, we can be resolute in knowing that despite what the media may say, and what preconceived notions lead us to assume, on an international scale, we’re all a force for change.
And even with all the positive, outward change, we will never forget.
Reach the columnist at brittany.morris@asu.edu
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