Watching the Twin Towers collapse over and over. Seeing the people of New York run and scream over and over. Hearing the stories of loss of family and friends over and over. We are not allowed to forget. We must feel the confusion, the exasperation, and the pain every September 11. This has become an American tradition.

Every year, mainstream media makes us all relive September 11 in our minds and hearts. Newspapers reiterate horrific stories of witnesses of the attacks. News programs replay each plane crashing into the buildings once every ten minutes. A single day has not passed without the word “terrorism” being uttered by President Bush (as though education, poverty and the economy deserved less attention.)

It has been five years, five years, and we are still not allowed to forget the day of terror.

Why do we spend September 11 only remembering the dead? Why don’t we respect them properly by speaking up against the security failures of the CIA who could have prevented these attacks? Why don’t we take the Bush administration’s antiterrorism strategies into account when counting the thousands who have died in the United States, Afghanistan or Iraq as a result of terrorism? September 11 was not just a day of terror, as we are taught by mainstream media. The empty lot of Ground Zero does not represent the result of terrorist attacks, but the loss of faith in our government.

I am not asking America to forget those who died as a result of terrorist attacks, nor am I asking politicians to back down when it comes to defending this nation, but enough with the stories of loss and clips of planes crashing. Making Americans feel depressed does not secure this country against terrorism. America needs to remember the real issues on September 11.

— Esma Yucel is a sophomore English major.