September 11, 2007

It would be pretty crass of me to post multiple times today and not even mention the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Six years later, it's hard to accept the additional bloodshed that resulted from the so-called "War on Terror:" the 3,762 members of the U.S. Armed Forces killed in Iraq, the 374 killed in Afghanistan, 70,000+ Iraqi civilian casualties and God knows how many Afghani civilian casualties. Not to mention the journalists and military contractors who have also lost their lives, the amputees and other casualties, and the soldiers who come home whole in body but with a broken mind.

How will we explain this to our children? What has been accomplished? Al Queda is growing in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, Osama's still out there spreading his message of terror. The events of September 11 brought Americans together in a remarkable way. As a nation we mourned together and resolved to be strong, to be united. Today, we are united again, this time wondering, collectively, what went wrong. And looking to our country's leadership for answers.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5: 38-39