9/11 Four Years Later
Four years ago, radical extremist Islamofacist suicidal maniac terrorists rammed two passenger airplanes into the World Trade Center, a third into the front of the Pentagon. A fourth, derailed by American heroes, plunged into a Pennsylvania field. 9/11’s memory is seared in my mind. I remember the images of the planes firebombing the Twin Towers . . . or of Americans throwing themselves out of 50-story windows to plunge to their death to escape the fires and flames in the World Trade Center . . . or NYPD fireman who refused to stop saving lives–and refused to stop digging for their comrades who perished under tons of jagged concrete and steel remnants of the Twin Towers. I can never forget.
One of the lessons of 9/11 is that America is vulnerable to terrorism inside our borders. To attack the problem, we as a Nation needed to do two things: (1) Nationally, secure our borders and (2) Internationally, exterminate Muslim extremists abroad. Our reaction internationally–invading, conquering, and democratizing Afghanistan and Iraq–was the right reaction. However, our reaction nationally, despite some forms of toughening, has been abismal. Our border security along the Mexican and Candian border is insufficent and does not inhibit Muslim terrorists from illegally entering our country. The success of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps glaringly illustrates the type of commitment to liberty and security that our federal government is unwilling to make. A reasonable person would think that if a majority of the 9/11 terrorists entered the country illegally, that the government would marshall our tax dollars aimed at correcting that problem. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
Despite our shortcomings internally, we have not had another terrorist attack on our soil in four years. That is quite an accomplishment. Certainly, our vigor in pursuing the terrorist threat abroad has limited any type of terrorist attack on our soil. But, in order to have another terror-free year (not years), the federal government must retreat from the political correctness that is hampering our border problem. Until the border is fixed, then the same method of entry that led to the loss of over 3,000 American lives will lead to the deaths of thousands more.