That Day

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was early in the morning here in Los Angeles. I was in my car driving to work. I was taking the canyon route into the city listening to a morning talk show host. He had mentioned something about an airplane crashing into a building in New York and was at the point of “we don’t have much on this yet, but we’ll keep you informed as this story develops. It’s probably some idiot flying drunk or something.” Then there was a pause. Silence for an ominous moment. I could tell something was wrong. “What? Ladies and gentlemen, another plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.” I said almost the same thing he did, “Oh my God, we’re at war!”

By the time I got to work not much had changed. There were constant estimates of just how many people would be in the WTC at that time of day and the numbers of possible dead being reported were horrific. Most of the estimates were in the 30,000 to 50,000 range. Thank God those estimates were wrong, but that doesn’t diminish the loss we did suffer that day. Anyway, there was a small TV in one of the offices so everyone was trying to get it tuned in so we could watch the news. We finally got the thing working just in time to see the first tower fall. Several people left the room crying. It was one of the most shocking things I’ve ever seen.

Here in America we know the face of evil. There is no question that event was and act of evil, planned and perpetrated by evil people. We’ve captured or killed many of them, but those people are still out there. We can not afford to become complacent. We certainly can not back off the fight one bit. We’ve made great strides in Iraq and have at this point put the enemy all but out of business. They’re still there, but now, whenever the stick up their head, someone puts a bullet in it.

There are other places around the world were work is needed, and is being done. Afghanistan still needs some work, but it’s getting done. Pakistan, Sudan and other countries and regions need work as well. I’m particularly concerned about Darfur. What we’re seeing in Darfur is what all of North Africa has seen over the past several hundred years. Muslims start moving in, then they take over the government, then they start to convert people, then they start to force people to convert, then they kill everyone they couldn’t convert. This is the evil we face.

There are many out there who believe the answer to all international problems is negotiation and diplomacy. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong, and dangerous as well. When confronted with evil there is only one option. There is only one course of action that will achieve what needs to be achieved: Attack!

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