Archive: Opinions

Sunday marks the 10th Anniversary of the 9-ll Terrorist Attack on our country. Like other moments in our nation's history, we ought to pause and reflect on the events of that day, September 11, 2001, and remember the brave men, women, and children who lost their lives in the attack: those who were on the planes, at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The 9-ll Terrorist Attack stands as the Pearl Harbor of our time. Following the attack, our nation along with other nations of the world, gathered in solidarity to mourn the loss of innocent lives. As with any attack, we called upon Congress to launch a special investigation to determine how such a horrific event could have happened on US soil.

The answers were varied, but the conclusions were unanimous. We had underestimated the extent and the extremes which an enemy would pursue to achieve its goal. Previous attempts by Al Qaeda to blow up buildings and other landmarks in our country had been thwarted. Our intelligence agencies, working in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, had successfully blocked this terror organization from carrying out its destruction.

The diabolical genus behind the 9-ll attacks caught everyone by surprise, including those agencies dedicated to prevent such disasters. If any good came out of this tragedy, it is the fact that the intelligence community is willing to share more information among themselves in ways that ought to prevent any future 9-ll's.

A lesson that we have not learned is that war will not solve this problem. The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has not guaranteed us any measure of safety or reassurance. There is no doubt that members of the Taliban were hiding in Afghanistan, and Saddam Hussein was a tyrannical dictator. But these were not part of the Al Qaeda organization responsible for the 9-11 Attacks.

Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks was living in Pakistan for months if not years. Pakistan is an ally, at least on paper. It was intelligence that brought us the key information in eliminating Osama, not full scale military conflict.

The loss of life among US and Coalition Forces as well as innocent Afghans and Iraqis has only added to the tragedy. In addition to the monuments honoring those who died on September 11 in New York, Washington, and Shanksville, our country will be dedicating new ones for those who fought and lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Our way of life has changed profoundly. Travel in the United States and abroad has become an absurdity leaving many innocent travelers feeling violated, vulnerable, and victimized. Anyone with a camera, camcorder, or merely asking questions is detained, interrogated and labeled as a person of interest.

So the question to ask is this. Do you feel safer today than you did 10 years ago? I never felt threatened or thought our country was heading toward destruction on September 11. I was living in Washington. I was sad over the loss of life. I was angry at the terrorists. I was hopeful that we would recover and avoid implementing extreme measures. Safety is important, but it should not cost us our basic freedoms. New Hampshire reminds all of us what it means to be an American. The State Motto reads, "Live Free or Die." And that is to the point.

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