The War on Terror: 10 Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today, more than a dozen people, divided among four teams, hijacked airliners. One team flew into the Pentagon. Another team probably crashed, rather than allow their victims to retake the airliner. The two remaining teams flew their hijacked planes into New York City's World Trade Center.

Murder is Not Nice

The hijackers killed more than 3,000 people, including themselves, that day: mostly in lower Manhattan. I think that was a bad thing to do. The Catholic Church disapproves of murder, suicide, and taking hostages. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258-2269, 2280-2283, 2297-2298)

If you're expecting a rant about 'those fiends' burning in Hell: that's not gonna happen. I have no way of knowing how the hijackers' particular judgments went: and there's that Matthew 7:1-5 thing about not judging others.

War is Not Nice

I've been using the term "war on terror" as a name for the conflict between folks who don't think wearing trousers should be punishable by death, and those who do.¹ I didn't make up the term, of course.

I think war is not nice: things get broken; people get killed. I also think that sometimes war is better than the alternative. I'll get back to that in another post.

Related posts:

• "Osama bin Laden is Dead: No Rant"
  (May 2, 2011)
• " 'Just War:' Unpleasant, but Not a Contradiction in Terms"
  (March 22, 2011)
• "September 11, 2001: Nine Years Later"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 11, 2010)
• "War is Not Nice"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 15, 2010)
• "Remembering 9/11"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 11, 2007)

The 10th anniversary of 9/11, more posts:

• "The War on Terror: 9/11/2001 - 9/11/2011"
  (September 11, 2011)

In the news:

• "Pennsylvania Catholics' work of mercy ends with Flight 93 burial"
  Benjamin Mann, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (September 10, 2011)
• "US ambassador: John Paul II saw 9/11 as attack on all of humanity"
  CNA (Catholic News Agency) (September 10, 2011)

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¹ Depending on where you are, wearing trousers may keep your legs warm, result in a fine, or get you killed:

• "Sudan, Women, Trousers, Culture and Common Sense"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 7, 2009)