Dear all:

I am but one New Yorker.  So, I cannot speak for all of us, but merely for myself and 
those whom I know.  I was here on that day and know some of those who died and more 
who were immediately influenced by the event.  The firefighter that my son still 
remembers who put my son in his truck when he was just a toddler, the father of my 
son's first girlfriend in nursery school (at the tender age of 2-1/2 my son said he wanted 
to go into the ground and bring her father back out again), all of my coworkers from 
where I used to work a block away from the Towers who watched the bodies falling, 
stepped over body parts, panicked and stood still as the Towers fell near them or 
panicked and jumped into the River.  Some who died were French.  I have many 
neighbors in our building who are French.  The French, like Americans have a diversity of 
views.  Whether or not "THE" French supported "THE" Americans is subject to 
interpretation and here in New York City, I would say that many of us do not resent "THE" 
French or our good neighbors who are as much New Yorkers as they are "THE" French.  
Whether the actions we took after 9-11 actually improved our safety or worsened it is 
subject to interpretation.  In New York, I don't know anyone who feels any safer with a 
different president in France.

As we near the 10 year mark we still do not have even the rudimentary beginnings of the 
Memorial in place and we're being told by our new governor that previous politicians 
made up schedules for its completion just to appease those who lost family members.  
So, on this day to have the topic of 9-11 come up in a way to justify some other assertion 
on a different topic feels particularly bad.  9-11 was a tragic event and almost every 
single New Yorker knows someone or was personally affected by this event.  Among 
those I know, the feeling is that 9-11 has been exploited politically in many many ways.

So, I agree with Winnie that I do not know the underlying intentions behind using 9-11 as 
an example.  However, I do know that I do not labeling any particular group as being 
against Americans and I must speak up for my French neighbors.  I also know that I 
really find it painful when 9-11 is used to make some political assertion to shore up 
someone's political beliefs.  And in this regard, I do feel that the 9-11 example was used 
in that manner.  It is not the beliefs about boycotts that I find upsetting --- it is the use of 
9-11 that I find personally upsetting.

Best, Susan

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