911: SO MUCH MORE

In the early hours of 12 September I sat stunned and horrified as the vision of 911 spread through my family room. It seemed unreal, almost impossible that this had occurred and all thoughts were focused on the sheer terror of the people involved. Later the terror of what this would mean for the world kicked in, which lead to the aptly named, "War on Terror".

So on this decennial of 911 we remember the 3000 victims, including 10 Australians, their families, the images, but, should we remember more?

Events in Iraq and Afghanistan are inextricably linked to 911 and so to are their victims. The number of American soldiers killed now exceeds 6000, double the lives lost in the event, with Australian soldiers' deaths standing at 31 and many hundreds of NATO troops also paying the ultimate price of war.

Then there is the forgotten and shamelessly glossed over civilian casualties of these conflicts. The people with families and friends, citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan whose dead number 137,000 conservatively, according to the Eisenhower Research Project based at Brown University.

What of the wounded on all sides, left with disabilities, the inability to no longer lead a normal life or care for their families. And the wheel keeps turning and churning, the ever increasing human cost.

So lets take a moment to pause, to remember, and at the very least acknowledge, the other victims of 911 otherwise there will never be an appropriate time to do so.

Costs of War