In these awful times, as we struggle to understand what is happening to our world, we must keep in mind the events of the recent past.
At dawn on September 11, he received his orders.
While others would attack the citadels of commerce and defence
To his team would go the greatest honour,
That of targeting the President himself.
They would attack by air the central symbol of the Infidel's power
— The Presidential Palace.
And they would take out this obscene man
And all who stood by him.
"Democracy", the infidels called it.
Let them call it thus
And carp at the virtue of "elections".
Elections were fallible.
And now things had to be put right.
He had chosen his team well.
While others might quake at the magnitude
Of their mission, they would not flinch.
They boarded the aircraft carrying with them the hopes of all true believers.
They had the support, too, of powerful friends abroad,
Of a courageous foreign government that supported their cause,
Equipped them, trained them, and put up cash.
And when victory was won and the revolution complete
It would recognise them, and give them honour.
To it, too, must go the glory.
The plan was meticulous.
His destiny — and that of his colleagues — was in his own hands.
Flying low, he turned the aircraft towards the capital
And prayed his aim would be true.
The attack succeeded.
The president, given warning by developments elsewhere,
Chose to stay in his residence and dared them do their worst.
He was dead by evening. His regime — like his palace — rubble around him.
He made a final broadcast to the nation. Here is part of what he said:
"This is surely the last opportunity I will have to address you... With my life I will pay for defending the principles Dear to our nation... these are my last words".
And so they were. On September 11, 1973
Salvador Allende, President of Chile died,
Refusing to flee an air attack on the Presidential Palace.
His murderers, a military putsch supported by the government of the United States,
Overthrew the democratically elected government
And established a rein of terror that saw thousands murdered.
Thus did the date September 11
First associate terror with the United States.
Keith McKenry
From Green Left Weekly, September 11, 2002.
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