Thoughts on the Anniversary of 9/11

Many of us have been trading stories of 9/11/2001.  I always ask people if they remember where they were, and what they were doing.  I talked to one guy who was on the 35th floor of the Trade Center when the first plane hit.  He said it wasn't immediately obvious.  At first he thought it might be an earthquake or something.  But in any case, he ordered his crew to leave the building, and he said everyone packed up and left.  He was the last of his crew out the building, and he just started running.  He is lucky to be alive.  I have talked to many who knew people, and some who witnessed the event from further uptown.

Me?  It was a surprising nice fall day after a hot summer.  I was in my office at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC, when a woman came running by saying the Twin Towers were hit.  I ran down to where there was a television, and saw the horror of the first plane's damage.  I watched for a while, and suddenly a second plane struck the the towers.  I said then we were at war.  Some folks looked at me.  I pointed out that one plane hitting the towers could be a freak accident.  But two planes mean someone has deliberately done this.  An hour later, this fact was confirmed when the plane hit the Pentagon, just across the Potomac from where I was sitting.  I did not find out about the fourth plane until the next day.  I crossed the road, and went up on top of a parking garage to see the smoke billowing from the Pentagon, and knowing folks who were in there and might be hurt or killed.  Communications, were of course, totally jammed, though one Amateur Radio repeater site quickly set up and began relaying from the Pentagon to get word out.  Still, news was scarce, which added to the feeling that things had changed forever.

Of course it was only later that I found out who had planned and carried out this heinous deed.  It took more time to realize who our enemy truly is.  We are not at war with terror, for terror is a technique, not an enemy.  The people we are at war with are radical Islamist, from outside, and Marxist/Fascist/Socialist/Communist/Collectivist/Statists from the inside.  The radical Islamists are supported, in this country and abroad, by millions of so-called "moderate Muslims."  They will not take up arms against us, but at the same time, they would gladly see this country become part of the Caliphate.  In this country, the active Leftist community is fairly small, but again the sympathisers represent perhaps 25% of the voting population.  Taken all together, the odds are not good. Still, you must decide which side you are going to be on.  There soon will be no room for folks in the middle.