The Long War Journal: three years

Written by Bill Roggio on September 11, 2004 3:03 PM to The Long War Journal

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2004/09/three_years_1.php

"I can hear you. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." - President Bush addressing the rescue workers at the ruins of the World Trade Center

I remember September 11, 2001 as clearly as any day in my life. I remember receiving the news, attempting to find out exactly what was going on through the rush of the media panic, sharing the emotions of disbelief, anger and fear for my family's safety with my coworkers, the relief when I found out my family was safe, and the dread for the thousands I was sure did not escape the hell of Washington DC, New York City and the fields Shanksville, PA. The moment that made me break down was a seemingly innocent one. My son Alex was one year old, and loved airplanes. After I picked him up from his babysitter that day, he looked to the sky for airplanes. He raised his hand in the air to point them out but there were none to be seen. They were all grounded, and he would not be able to see them for days. I knew at that moment the world had changed, and even my son was not immune from the events of that day.

This is the story of my family's first hand experience the horrors of 9-11; tame compared to those that had to flee the buildings and endure the collapse of the towers but frightening none the less:

Many families were impacted by the attacks on New York City, Washington, DC and Shanksville, PA. Our family was not immune. My sister and her husband both worked in New York City. My sister was seven months pregnant with her first child and worked several blocks from the World Trade Center. Her husband worked in the World Trade Center south tower. The Fates were somewhat kind to them that day. Due to traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike, they were behind schedule. While crossing the ferry into Manhattan, they noticed smoke coming from the north tower. They were walking to work when they witnessed the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, slam into the south tower and the resulting chaos that ensued. They were wise enough to know this was no ordinary accident and immediately made their way to the ferry back to New Jersey. Due to the shutdown of the public transportation system, they walked for hours to return to their car. We waited anxiously for word of their safety, relieved when the phone call arrived.

Our family was fortunate that day, but the families of 3,030 American citizens and foreign guests were not so fortunate. As Mr. Aznar so eloquently stated, we must fight this war until victorious as "this is the debt we owe to the victims of the attacks, and to the society that mourns them."

9/11 is a day we shall never forget, and an attack we will never forgive.

We should be as angry today as we were when we first witnessed the horrors of 9-11. It should burn in us, it should motivate us to right these wrongs. Anger can be a very powerful motivator, but we must take care and not direct it to hatred.

We must avenge the lives of those lost, we own them and their families that much. These were our friends, our family, our fellow countrymen that were slaughtered by an enemy that knows no humanity, that shows no mercy, that is the very incarnation of evil.

Al Qaeda tried to break our will on September 11, 2001 as they believed we were weak and afraid to fight. But they misjudged the character and spirit of this nation. We will hunt them down and destroy their sanctuaries, one by one. Our success over the course of three years has been astonishing in light of the opposition we have encountered in the international community. We have liberated two nations, Afghanistan, the home of al Qaeda, and Iraq, one of the most oppressive fascist states in the Middle East. We have eliminated 75% of al Qaeda's pre 9-11 leadership, and have captured the operational masterminds of this attack. We are hunting al Qaeda cells in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, in North and South America, in Australia, Russia and elsewhere. It will be a long struggle, much like the Cold War, except against an enemy more cruel and elusive that operates outside of the rule of laws, nations and humanity.

Some say those that point out the dangers we face are practicing the politics of fear. They are wrong, and they are only listening to half of the message. It is very important for us to identify our enemy and maintain due diligence. But we must commit to building a better world for our children. We must make the sacrifices needed to change the culture of death and violence that exists in the Islamic world, just as our forefathers sacrificed to defeat fascism and Communism. This is a message of hope, not fear; hope that our children and the children of families throughout the world can look forward to a future of peace, not one of suicide bombers, school hostage situations and the potential release of nuclear weapons. We must fight with all of our strength to prevent another 9-11 from occurring here, using all the tools available: our economy, diplomacy, military, and culture. It is our duty as Americans. It is our debt to those who died on this fateful day and those who died fighting our enemies thereafter. We must not dishonor their memories by ceding the field of battle to the forces of evil.