Posted on 09/12/2001 7:45:20 AM PDT by AmishDude
I am one of the lucky ones.
I don't have friends or family in Manhattan or near the Pentagon. For me, the terrorist attacks of September 11 were just news stories.
Just news stories, indeed.
As of this writing the death toll is unknown and one grim prospect is that it may be unknowable. The number of 10,000 is enough for me. It may be too high, it may be too low; but by all accounts, it is of the proper order of magnitude.
The death toll is so staggering, that it is still an abstraction, like the "megadeaths" associated with nuclear weaponry.
My closest relationship to the devastation came when I lived in New Jersey and made regular trips east on Route 3 toward Weehawken. A little after the Meadowlands sports complex the Manhattan skyline becomes visible, including those imposing towers.
They are now gone.
In the future, even after the rubble has been cleared and the damage assessed, there will be no twin towers to see.
It will be as if they had been erased.
Even now, a few despicable pundits, have not been able to cease the autopilot that is their Bush-bashing attempt to affix blame. It's easy to spot, they usually invoke "his father." They do this even while ignoring the last half-hearted attempt to punish Bin Laden, which kept the world safe from African-made aspirin.
However satisfying it must feel to find an enemy to blame, the fault lies with the perpetrators. Just as "society" is not responsible for a murderer, neither is poor intelligence gathering nor bad diplomacy nor past leadership responsible for a terrorist act.
So, what now?
First, Bin Laden and his enablers must be destroyed in no uncertain terms. There are those who will suggest that we do not know for sure that Bin Laden was responsible. No matter, he has admitted responsibility for other terrorist acts -- he has it coming. If it is later discovered that others were responsible -- then punish them as well.
There is, of course, the problem of finding the terrorists' financier. Again, this is of no concern. It doesn't matter where Bin Laden is. We know where he has been. The bombing needs to follow him like breadcrumbs along a path in the forest.
Second, the borders need to be strengthened, not just for immigration, but for visitation. One of the perpetrators of the first (oh, how strange that sounds) attack on the World Trade Center studied chemical engineering at Rutgers.
Third, arm pilots and place marshalls on all large aircraft. Put plans in place to forcibly take down aircraft that deviate from the flight plan.
Fourth, hang the Palestinians out to dry. The celebrations both there and in Iraq demonstrated that there is no love for even the most basic existence of Americans. No matter what we do, they will not be placated. It is not for anything the US has done, though those are the official excuses. Anything short of an American holocaust and nuclear strike against Israel will not satisfy even the common Palestinians.
There are those of us who have known this for a long time, but diplomats continue to offer olive branches to Arafat's gang and continue to get them kicked out of their hands. Make it abundantly clear that there is no sympathy for even the most sympathetic causes of the enablers of terrorism. They are now alone.
Finally, we need to recognize that none of these actions will do what we really want: Make us feel safe again. The line has been crossed and even the most drastic of measures will not ensure our safety.
This is the reality we must face and the only effective way to keep it from happening again is to make sure that the next terrorist figures the loss of his own family, friends and countrymen into his calculations.
Let our government do its job. They will find out who (still alive) is responsible, and deal with them appropriately.
YOU should be aware that personal security is YOUR problem. "Dial 911 and die" indeed - on those planes, several frantic calls were made to family & authorities who could do NOTHING...the only hope was to stop 2-3 twits with knives IMMEDIATELY. We've been programmed with "cooperate like a good little victim". Be ready to deal with deadly situations YOURSELF; 266 people were not, and 10,000+ died as a result. RKBA!
Blood....It's time to send a whole lot of people to meet Allah.
I think they'll be a bit surprised at who they'll meet. It hardly matters, but doesn't this blaspheme Allah? Implying that he's too impotent to take care of his enemies.
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