9/11 was a horrible day, and we do remember all those lost on that day. However, I refer to magekiller's post to those who think it was a just pretext to the War in Iraq even though they were completely irrelevant.

 

I also find it is a good time to mention the biblical parable in Matthew 18 of forgiveness where the king forgives the servant his debt, but then the servant beats the other servant and has him arrested for his debt so the king rescinds his forgiveness. Forgiveness is a difficult thing, but we must forgive others unless we wish to forsake our own.

Flashback, November 2001:

 

The principal target is Al Qaeda, and the United States should not rest until it has destroyed that terrorist organization. Removing the Taliban from power, and discouraging states like Somalia and Sudan from taking in Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, are major steps in that direction. But probably the most important ingredient in the war against Al Qaeda is good intelligence, which will allow the United States to locate the terrorists and strike at them with deadly force when the time is right -- and to locate, protect and reward those who come to the American side. The Bush administration should devote abundant resources to improving America's intelligence capabilities and to buying information on the terrorists from other governments.

 

Americans must face a hard reality: massive military force is not a winning weapon against these enemies. It makes the problem worse. In contrast, a strategy that emphasizes clever diplomacy, intelligence-gathering, and carefully selected military strikes might produce success eventually if we pursue it with patience and tenacity.

 

This is not terribly heartening. But it is the least bad alternative at the moment, and international politics is often about choosing among lousy alternatives.

John J. Mearsheimer: Guns Won't Win the Afghan War

I was on those towers 2 months before it happened. It shocked me when I woke up and I heard people talk about fallen towers, and when I got to school, I found out what had happened.

 

RIP