Since Sunday I have been struggling with writing a post on the five years since September 11. I started and abandoned more than half a dozen attempts to untie the knot of what I feel and what I wanted to say. I haven't been able to do it. It's a tangled mess of sadness, anger, frustration, hope and pride. Mixed in are all the details of post 9/11 life. The increased security. The straining edge of always being a little more vigilant. The self doubt and questioning every time you make conscious notice of a young Arab male. The anger that self doubt engenders. The politics of the War on Terror.

It seems there always has to be the politics.

I watched the President's speech on 9/11. Less than 2 minutes after he finished some blithering idiot on CBS was commenting on how Bush was attempting to frame the debate of the upcoming election. I was dumbfounded. The President went on the air on the anniversary of a horrific attack that brought America into the War on Terror. Did this empty suit expect he was going to talk about soy bean subsidies?

The speech did me give me hope. Hope that I drew from one line the president has used before when talking about the passengers of Flight 93.

Terrorism has been around for a long time. Terrorism directed at America has been around for a long time. In Iran during the Carter administration. Beirut during the Reagan presidency. Repeatedly during the Clinton years - including an attack on U.S. soil. On September 11, 2001 the passengers of one highjacked flight decided they were not going let the terrorists achieve their goal. In the president's words, "They gave us our first victory in the war on terror."

It came decades too late. But it came. And there have been more victories since. The terrorists can be beaten and will be beaten.

If we don't let the politics get in the way.

Technorati Tags: Freedom, George Bush, Politics, Terrorism

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 02:16 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment