Remembering 9/11: Why We are Winning the War on Terror

BY LEAH KIEFF

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September 11.

In the words of President George W. Bush: “We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.“

Some say we are failing in our war on terror, perhaps because we have yet to capture Osama Bin Laden.

I would say we are winning. We have not been attacked on United States soil since 9/11 and that is not something we could have taken for granted on Sep. 12, 2001.

The reason we have yet to be attacked again is because we have acknowledged that there is a very real threat and we have committed to fighting against this threat wherever it is seen.

The devestation of that day destroyed our illusions that terrorists, claiming to be acting on the will of God, do not seek to destroy us and everything we stand for.

We no longer have the luxury of harbouring doubts that they are simply misunderstood.

The White House, constantly under fire, has most recently come under attack for a series of television advertisments depicting a soldier, who after having lost both legs in an explosion in Iraq, explains why he thinks U.S. forces need to stay in Iraq.

“They attacked us,” he proclaims “And they will again. They won’t stop in Iraq.”

Many criticize the Administration for their hints at a linkage between Iraq and 9/11, citing the 9/11 Commission’s report as conclusive evidence for the disassociation between Iraq and 9/11, or even terrosists in general.

We need to look at the larger picture, this is not about whether Al-Qaeda was in Iraq or whether Iraq would have been a breeding ground for Al-Qaeda, it is about combating those who seek to destroy us where ever they present themselves.

Sadam was a dictator who made his contempt for America and everything we stand for very clear.

Simply because Iraq did not yet, to our knowledge, have its own terrorists ready to attack does not mean that we ought to have waited for them to make the first move.

I hate to resort to a sports anaology when dealing with so serious a topic, but as they say, the best defense is a good offense.

We must continue to show just as united of a front as we did in the months after September 11. Our nation must once again remember that for the second time ever in our history we were attacked on our soil, in a vicious slaughter of civilians.

We have to break their capacity to hurt us and go after those who seek to destroy us.

Leah Kieff is a freshman.