9/11

(Cross-posted from Babalu):

As the case with the majority of Americans, I was at work on the morning of 9/11. I had just come back from some mundane meeting about a mundane subject when a few co-workers commented that a plane had hit one of the towers. At the time, we thought it was some horrible accident. TVs were tuned to the news, but no one understood the reality of what was happening. A few minutes later, news arrived of the second tower being struck, and at that point it was painfully obvious as to what was happening. We were being attacked. I did not see the second plane hitting the tower unlike many others who saw it live, but my wife did see it, and she was affected in a way that I wasn't.

During the several days of hazy reality that followed 9/11, my wife, seven-plus months pregnant with our oldest daughter, wondered what kind of world we were bringing our daughter into. I didn't have a good answer to that question, except that bad things had happened in this world before, and somehow we had found a way to get through. I'm not sure I believed those words myself, but it sounded comforting at the time.

Looking back five years later, I truly believe what I said. Americans are a tough bunch, despite our slipping confidence in the war on terror. When push comes to shove, we know how to respond. Still, too many of our own have forgotten this. We've forgotten that war isn't easy, especially when we're fighting a cowardly enemy who prefers to immolate himself and not face the consequences of his actions. We're fighting a moral battle - don't be misguided by those who insist on setting moral equivalency bounds.

As President Bush has said so many times, we will win. We must win.