November 11th Reflections on September 11th

Subject: November 11th Reflections on September 11th

The destruction of the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City, and the partial destruction of The Pentagon, in Washington, D.C. by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001, was correctly labeled by our government an "act of war" against the American people. The method of attack, simultaneous hijackings of civilian aircraft, and the subsequent crashing of the aircraft into these targets, was an act of such unthinkable brutality that most Americans cannot fathom the degree of evil involved. We are not programmed to accept that human beings can be capable of imagining, planning, and then carrying out the mass-murder of thousands of men, women, and children who were guilty only of going about their daily routines. These victims were civilians, they never had the opportunity to defend themselves, and they never saw the faces of their killers.

In war, the participants who wage the battles must be prepared to die for their beliefs. Their families and loved ones must understand that the soldier is in danger at all times, during conflict. In Vietnam, over 58,000 soldiers, both men and women, gave their lives in service to America.
Another 2000 are listed as "Missing in Action". All of these men and women understood and accepted their roles as front-line participants in armed conflict. They have been recognized (belatedly) for making the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom. They have been memorialized on "The Wall" in Washington, D.C.

But what of the innocent delivery person, the stockbroker, the restaurant worker, the mother, the father, the maintenance person, the client, the secretary, the security guard, and the child who now lay buried beneath uncountable tons of concrete and steel in lower Manhattan and Washington, D.C.? What of the innocent airplane passengers whose lives were extinguished simply because they occupied space on planes converted to missiles by monsters who wanted to make a statement? What is their due? How do we reconcile their accounts? What sense do we make of the senseless? There is no "fair" way to compensate their familys' or our grief. There is no "nice" solution to the challenge that has been issued from the shadowlands that give birth to these monsters. Yes, there are places on our planet that gleefully support random slaughter of innocent men, women, and children. The causes that these cowards espouse vary, but, all of them have one central goal; to murder as many Americans as possible; to disrupt, and eventually, destroy the American way of life. We must respond. We must hold them accountable for their atrocities. We must not be "fair", and we must not be "nice". An "act of war" requires that we respond in kind. We must be warriors. We must be resolute and have the courage of our convictions. We must reconcile the accounts of our dead citizens.

Terrorists deal in fear, and unfortunately, many of us are fearful. They have turned our openness against us, using our resources, our technology, and our willingness to accept all people into our society, as weapons of fear. They dressed as we do, they studied at our learning institutions, and they blended into our daily lives. We must respond, but, who is responsible?

Terror cannot exist in the light. It will not grow in the open. Terror must be clandestine, faceless, and amorphous. It requires a host to spew its seeds, and we know who the hosts are, and where they are located. We know about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Libya. We know that the seeds of terror have been welcomed by the murderers who control these pieces of our planet. We know that these murderers nurture and cultivate terror in order to maintain power over the hapless minions who comprise their populations. Terror is as effective within their borders as it is within our own.

We have the resources to turn the lights on in all of these areas. We can make the darkness that terror needs to thrive disappear instantly. We have the power to eradicate terror completely; and we must employ this power decisively.

Most importantly, we must ensure that such atrocities never occur again. A hostile group has initiated the use of force against our nation; we have a moral obligation to respond to this act. We must not hesitate to defend ourselves; we must not allow our humanity to stall our response. A world absent terror is a world of life. We have the power to ensure life on Earth and we must exercise this power now. Illuminate the darkness, eliminate terror, and move on with our lives. This is the right course of action.