Remembering...

...that horrible day.

I guess it was too much to hope for: “Obama Calls for Tolerance - President Obama, marking the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, says U.S. is at war with al Qaeda but 'never will be at war with Islam.'” (Wall Street Journal)...

Rather than shrink from our righteous anger (not to mention grief) and our responses to the attacks of 9/11, we should remember it.

Boldly.

Until this “war” with al Qaeda and its supporters/sympathizers is won – regardless of how long it takes – we should revisit that horrible day and recall that thousands of our innocent fellow countrymen were slaughtered that day by thugs who hope to impose their views and will on the rest of the world.

Rather than taking a day of remembrance and turning it into another “teachable moment,” our leaders should join each other, shoulder to shoulder, to proclaim that while we are divided on many political matters here at home, we stand together to remember what happened on 9/11 and pledge the battle to destroy the evildoers.

What should be on the mind – and lips – of everyone bearing witness to that day, is neatly encapsulated in this excerpt from the New York Post:

“Beyond mourning (Posted: 12:30 AM, September 11, 2010) - For the ninth time, Americans today will gather at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa., for the now familiar -- but achingly painful -- commemorations of 9/11.

The nation will mourn its loss -- nearly 3,000 innocent lives, snuffed out on a Tuesday morning that seems at once so long ago, and as if it were yesterday.

And America will commemorate the heroism of the first responders who unhesitatingly rushed to the maelstrom to do their jobs -- even at the cost of many of their own lives.

But it would be a mistake to sentimentalize what happened on that brilliantly sunlit late-summer morning -- just as it would be wrong to lose sight of the true nature of the event.

The attacks were acts of mass murder, committed to advance political goals that were -- and remain -- antithetical to civilization itself.

Lenin wrote that the purpose of terrorism is to terrorize, and he was right. In this case, the object was to weaken the will of the established order to resist murderous medievalists who meant to drag the West back to the 9th century.

Who still mean to.”

Let us not forget the firefighters, police and other first responders who – when the world was burning and falling around them – rushed into harm’s way to save as many civilians as possible.

Let us not forget the selfless people inside the towers, the Pentagon and on United Flight 93 who gave their lives so that others might live.

Let us not forget those who toiled on the Pile, in the Pit and throughout the Pentagon in the hours, days, weeks and months after the attacks to recover the living and the remains of the dead.

Let us not forget the countless thousands who offered assistance at the WTC, Pentagon and in Shanksville on 9/11 and in the days following.

Let us not forget our allies who reached out to us in our time of need.

Let us not forget those who survived and carry with them – forever – memories of that day and friends, colleagues and loved ones lost.

Let us not forget those who died at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon and on United Flight 93.

Let us not forget those left behind. Let us never forget those who, in the years since 9/11, have given their all in an effort to destroy al Qaeda and others who would do us harm.

September 11, 2001: We will always remember.

Add: By no means is the following list comprehensive. It is merely a suggested "reading list" -

• “What I Saw: Notes Made on September 11, 2001 from Brooklyn Heights”…(American Digest)
• “The Falling Man”…(Esquire)
• Photos of 9/11 memorial events…(WSJ)
• “Flocking to Ground Zero - Before politicians and protesters descend on Lower Manhattan, New Yorkers have a quiet moment”…(Washington Post)
• “Judson Box has never known exactly how his son, Gary, died on September 11, 2001. But an unexpected find nine years later has given him a glimpse into his son's final hours”…(CNN)
• Pepperdine University remembers 9/11
• “2 Muslims travel 13,000 miles across America, find an embracing nation”…(CNN)
• Obama honors 9/11 victims, condemns terrorists / Michelle Obama speaks at site of Flight 93 crash (LA Times)