KMZ on War

2001

I was in Turkey when this began. Looking at the ruins of Troy in light of the recent events in America gave me perspective. The peripheral walls of each of the seven consecutive cities of Troy, built one after and on top of another, were all a minimum six meters tall and built of huge stones sloping inward and very thick with battle posts and ram-proof gates. Strange for me, an American having been raised with safety as a God-given right, to think of a city needing such strength for their walls. Obviously they needed something even stronger. Not one city in the location of Troy died from economic or non-violent means. Some group of bastard humans beat through the walls, murdered, raped, stole, and burned each city down. Humans were motherfuckers then and continue to be motherfuckers.
Quinn Comendant

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The only war to be fought is the war on God. Humans created religion to provide structure for primitive society and to cope with the unanswerable questions of existence. Now our creation may destroy us all. There is no need to tally lives lost to religious wars or to consider the oppression of women under patriarchal religions or to account for resources wasted on worshiping a concept no more valid than the tooth fairy. This damage is behind us. What we must do for the future is declare war on the superstitions and blind ignorance that allow so much of the world to be governed by the basic lie of God and an afterlife. If people accepted earth as our final home, our energies would be spent creating a paradise among us instead of destroying each other in hopes of pleasing whatever imaginary figment they declare the supreme being.
Jeremy Mercer

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The twin towers were a valid target. That a person, organization, or state hates the U.S. enough to kill its citizens does not cause me to ask, ‘how can this be?’ only to choose sides. I support and represent the U.S. not because I am forced to by my nationality, I choose to. I am directed by a political regime where I may be vocally unsupportive of its attacks, unconfident of its president’s abilities, and doubt the legitimacy of his position. I am allowed to believe, and try to convince others, that Mohammed is the true prophet of Allah. I may state publicly that the U.S., by its actions, caused and deserved the attacks of September and are now one of the many organizations that are benefiting from them. I may hold these sentiments and need only worry about the malice of my neighbor, not my government. But if this arrangement changes…I will promptly switch sides.
Thomas Pancake

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The Allied reaction to the retaliatory terrorism of September 11th has been a grand reminder of my place in the community, my nation, and the economic status quo. Was there a moment when you too felt vulnerable, incapable and inconsequential as I? Perhaps when the World Trade Center collapsed, or when trading stocks tumbled down? When lay-offs buffered the economy and every letter, power-plant, airplane, truck, car and bag contained an Al-Qaeda cell? When protest against the propaganda of paranoia is dismissed as sympathetic tendencies? Thankfully my clarity is restored. I have been reminded how democratically ineffective I am when compared to the rule and survival of the economy. I thank this war for reminding me of my place, my humanity and my insignificance beyond this room and I apologize if I have overstepped my allotted boundary.
Luke Basham