AN EVENT THAT CHANGED A NATION

"Mom, turn on your TV---we're being attacked!"  That was the voice of my son, calling long distance and waking me from a sound sleep.  It was a literal wake up call to what would become a national tragedy and a deep wound, not only in terms of sadness for all those who perished that day, but to our national psyche and  to our self confidence in our security and well being. How could this have happened?  Terror was indeed what we felt, ---- and yet resisted with everything in our national soul and  pride.  With flags flying from porches, buildings, cars and trucks, we found our united voice and silently we spoke----we will not fall, you will not defeat us, we are stronger than you, and we will  defend ourselves.   But against whom, and how?? Who was this enemy who dared to take on the most powerful country in the world?  And why?  Like my deep sleep, America had been referred to as a "sleeping giant"--she was wide awake now.

There had been rumblings and other attacks for a long time, but no one, including our national leaders paid enough attention.  Even after the World Trade Center had been attacked previously in 1993, we seemed to shrug it off and go on with our lives. Who could imagine that a small band of extreme Islamic jihadists would or could attempt anything again, and on such a grand scale?And surely our intelligence system  would protect us.  Wrong.  They actually had been watching for a long time, and had even received specific warnings regarding the date of 9/11/01---but the messages were among many, not dispersed to all of the dis-jointed agencies at the same time,  and were not taken seriously enough  by the right people at the right time.  We, it seemed, were too big to be the victim of such  massive destruction by such a small army; and as usual, our politicians were busy attending to political matters.  George Bush had just been in office for a short time, after a very contentious election.  It remained to be seen whether he was up to the job as Commander in Chief.  He and we were about to find out.

President Bush , in his Texas twang, spoke publicly the name of the enemy for the first time to the country ---Al who? Al Queda was their name, and their leader was a man by the name of Osama Bin Laden, both names we would hear over and over again as we slowly digested that they hated us, disdained our way of life, and resented our allegiance to Israel. President Bush went on to say that they had our attention now, and that they would be hearing from us very soon.  We were going to war---two of them.

First Afghanistan, where it was known that the terrorists primarily lived and planned their attacks.  Then Iraq, where it was feared weapons of mass destruction were being developed and that it was a haven for terrorists. The controversy that developed over this decision still simmers today.  President Bush,  suddenly found himself a war time president, with a country to protect and very difficult decisions to make quickly based on the best intelligence he had at the time.  Some argue that more time should have been taken, more information gathered, confirmed, etc., But whatever else George Bush lacked, he was not weak or indecisive---or confused as to his mission and responsibility. He made his decisions and moved forward with remarkable strength and conviction. "You can run, but you cannot hide", he announced to the terrorists.  If they thought we were too weak to fight back as a nation, the face, tone, and grit of this Texas "cowboy" president had to give them some pause, and a preview of things to come.  Even if our target in Iraq was not the wisest or the most righteous, the world knew--- we were mad as hell.  It  was time to kick ---, and our military did just that.

They took the vicious Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein and his regime down, and helped the people of Iraq stumble towards a sort of democracy.  Ironically, George Bush's presidency went down with it, as there were those who felt he was too aggressive and had made a major tactictal error in going to war against Iraq. They condemned, criticized, and belittled his judjment and capabilities.  But Bush, who in spite of his many flaws, managed with his team of advisors and intelligence to protect the United States from further attacks. This was a monumental task, as there were many attempted and thwarted attacks. Even Bush's worst critics give him great credit for that.  He had risen to the challenge of his most solemn duty---he was up to the job. He had not hestitated, shrunk in fear or intimidation, or based  his decisions on political polls or consequences. He was not perfectly wise, but he did  bring a  frightened country from their knees to an upright, alert, and offensive posture. Even his Texan swagger gave us a measure of strength and attitude. "Don't mess with Texas"---had a ring we could all identify with.

 He overhauled the separate branches of intelligance gathering organizations, making them much more efficient, set up a homeland security headquarters, asked for and got permission to listen in on suspicious phone conversations, and designated a detention camp, Guantanamo , for the arrested terror suspects. Abu Ghraib, a prison, in Iraq was later used for harsh interrogation methods  to gain information from prime suspects. All these things helped answer the question of how we would fight this small, but formidable enemy----these people were deadly serious--- and we had to match their will to destroy us, often with non-conventional or traditional war time methods---without losing our principles of freedom and humane ideals in the process. It was a fine line, at times, and we can and will argue whether all we did was right---but today, we still stand, and the threat of terrorism has been weakened by sheer will and strength of those of us who will not tolerate nor  be cowered by the heinous acts of a few .

But have we changed?  Yes.  In so many ways. Our economy is in tatters, and much of it can be traced to the uncertain days and years following 9/11. Our travel is over- burdened by security measures.  Our national awareness of a constant not so clear and present danger has taken some of the joy away from our lives.  And most importantly, we have lost much treasure and the blood of our fine military men and women who had the courage to fight this battle.  We owe them more than we can ever repay, for most of us sacrificed very little in comparison. Life in the United States continued along, as we willed it to, wished it to, even were instructed to by President Bush, not because he or we were shallow, or not aware of the enemy and the huge drama being played out in our lives, but because by not changing our way of life at least perceptively, it was thought we were defying the terror they hoped to inflict upon us. It would seem, however, we could have done more---for so much more was being given in our name. And we have much work to do to restore our country to healthier times.

When President Obama came into office, he kept most of the programs put in place by President Bush as a result of 9/11.  He had threatened to dismantle many of them, but as he became more informed, and to his credit, he did not.  He also stepped up the drone program, singularly taking out many of the Al Queda leaders.  And last May, he, as Commander in Chief, gave the final order to kill Osama Bin Laden. President Obama, too, had lived up to his most sacred duty--- to protect us from our enemies.  Whatever else occurs on his watch, he accomplishes or not, we owe him deep thanks and appreciation for that one act. The man who decided to wage his war against us and vowed to destroy us was gone---and the relief in this country was a sigh felt across the nation.

Al Queda lives on, as they struggle to recruit more young, naive, and disallusioned young men to their cause. Paradoxically, as these extremists are preaching their warped brand of revolution, the middle east is undergoing its own revolution against those who would oppress and deny the freedoms that they  see other nations enjoy. But religious fanaticism lives on and as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approached, we were told there was good reason to believe that another attack was planned for that weekend. It never happened---but it could, and we remain ever vigilant and aware that  nothing will ever be quite the same. We are not so innocent anymore and unaware of what others may think of us. Perhaps that's a good thing, but what's better is that others now know, for better or worse, mistakes made or not, perfect or flawed, we cherish and guard our freedom, and we will still fight hard for it, as we always have.

As we watched  the footage of 9/11 and once again sat in awe of the bravery of the first responders, and especially the N.Y.C. firemen, one had to love their selflessness of those in such desperate need.  We lost almost 3000 citizens that day, and 343 of them were firemen trying in vain to rescue people trapped in the inferno of those burning buildings. The Pentagon was struck, killing over 125 people.  And worse carnage would have happened what if not for the very oncommon courage of the passengers on flight 93, who when they discovered that their plane had been hi-jacked, decided to die fighting, rather than to bow to their captors. It is worth noting, that even in their last moments, that heart breaking decision was made by voting with each other.

 If the horror of that day, and the terror that entered our hearts was real , so too are the heroic deeds of what so many of our people did for their fellow man---as images of the American flag being hoisted by dirty, exhausted workers on the ruined, devastated site of ground zero flashed across our tv screens, one couldn't help but feel that the proud spirit of this country still lived. And that much of what makes us great is not just the World Trade Center, that tall, magnificent  building of our capitalistic system, or the Pentagon, symbol of our military might.  It is us--- our united belief in freedom, our way of muddling through to decisions based on democracy, not the choices of a powerful few, and our inbred common respect for the lives, dignity, and rights of each other, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim,  atheist, or whatever.  As one fire chief  emotionally expressed last night---"we don't leave people----" Nor, he could have added, do we ask people to give their lives to suicide---we give our lives to rescue others.

Thank you to all who came through that day----and to all we've lost in the two wars.  May we move on to be worthy of your sacrifice. And may the terrorists who still seek to harm us and others, finally realize that their cause is hard to understand, much less justify, when it gives birth to what can only be described as evil acts, and leaves behind such death  and destruction. Because 9/11, in spite of its terror, was a lesson to all of us, that the human spirit is at its core loving, resilient, and strong--- and that hope, love, and life can arise from the ashes of hate.