On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was in Washington, D.C., at the annual conference of the Enforcement Department of NASD. NASD, now known as FINRA, regulates the securities brokerage industry, and I served as Chief Counsel of the New York Region. Our office was at One Liberty Plaza, half a block from the World Trade Center. Most of the staff was with me in Washington, but we had two assistants scheduled to be in the office that morning.
I spoke with one assistant by telephone as the second plane crashed into the South Tower. She escaped the area and made it home safely. The other assistant was in the area, heading to the office, when the devastation began, and she too made it home safely. The building was damaged and remained closed for several months.
I have always regretted that I was not in New York that day. I was friendly with the security personnel of the NASD who were based in the building. One was formerly with the FBI, and the other was ex-NYPD. Both of them aided in getting people from all the buildings in the area to safety, and I would have joined them in the effort.
We all returned home by train from Washington two days later. On Monday, a few of us began working out of temporary space. Downtown New York was hellish. The air was barely breathable, thick with smoke and ash and the stench of burning. We had to navigate police and military lines.
Within a week or so, our full staff was able to move into other temporary space. We made several trips back to the ghostly One Liberty Plaza to retrieve files, carrying them in trash bags. We ultimately got a wheelbarrow for this purpose. Several people worked out of the Long Island satellite office, helping us with projects that were impossible in our New York space. A couple of times, we were ordered to vacate the building because of concerns regarding possible anthrax.
My role was to endeavor to provide the leadership needed to maintain morale and help the staff function with limited resources. I urged courage and discouraged fear. When the anthrax scare began, I volunteered to open the mail.
I was proud of the staff, the way they overcame their grief and fear and coped under the difficult circumstances. When One Liberty Plaza was ready to reopen, our department returned immediately. The staff hummed away at work as soon as we moved back, and we were happy to be home.
In December, we met with the staff before the region’s holiday party. I gave awards to the people who had been particularly resourceful in keeping the mission going. We all felt the bond that comes with working together for a common purpose, and succeeding. We were glad to be alive and glad to be together. It was my privilege to serve the group, and I did so for three more years.
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I cannot think of September 11, 2001, without anger at the terrorists, and sorrow. I mourn for the poor people who died that day, at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. I mourn for the brave firefighters and police officers who sacrificed their lives trying to rescue others. And I mourn for all the people who lost loved ones that day.
I mourn for the country’s losses that day, and I damn the state. I damn the state for having created enemies through intervention abroad, and for having bungled the opportunities to prevent the attack.
I also damn the state for its responses in the past decade. I damn it for occupying Afghanistan for ten years, long after toppling the government in just two months. I damn it for the war in Iraq, and for still occupying the country eight years later. And I damn it for the unnecessary deaths of thousands of U.S. military personnel in these wars, as well as for the unnecessary injuries to thousands more.
I damn the state for creating new enemies through these wars and the war in Libya. I damn it for the loss of hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. I damn it for wasting trillions of dollars in these wars. And I damn it for continuing to support dictators around the world, including the monarchies of the Gulf States.
I damn the state for stealing more of our freedom in the name of war. I damn it for creating bureaucratic monsters in the name of security, wasting billions without purpose. And I damn it for taking over airport security, requiring all of us to endure a gauntlet of idiocy and intrusion.
I damn the state for fear mongering. I damn it for not telling the truth to the American people — the truth that terrorism is ineffectual unless government overreacts.
I damn the state for overreacting. And I damn it for letting the terrorists win by doing so.
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I mourn for the losses the country endured on September 11, 2001. I mourn too for what the country has since lost. And I damn the state for this loss.
