From my perspective it's been a good old fashioned red blooded American response to attack: Time to take some names and kick some ass. Unfortunately, what we have not been so very effective at recognizing and addressing is the fact that we are trying to eliminate a very angry culture, one that is as certain of American evil as our founding fathers were of British tyranny. It's a large, angry, geographically dispersed cultural group with no fear of death, not an army of soldiers sitting in cold wet socks, hunkered down in fields or rice paddies with guns and backpacks.
We, like the culture that holds such hatred for the United States, remain unable to accept the fact that war and killing have no record of bringing resolution to disputes. Somebody always gets beat-up and, we hope, eventually goes home. But no one ever wins, no one ever lives in lasting peace. For me, that is the lasting tragedy of this event at its ten year anniversary: I don't feel we are any closer to peace, there is no feeling of greater comfort, no greater feeling of safety. I don't feel any better about personal wellbeing or the wellbeing of humankind.
Putting the philosophical aside, I remain saddened by the losses that occurred that gorgeous late summer morning and remember all too well. I loved the World Trade Center and its Windows on the World. I will always remember my first time there with my brother Dan, his pride in the great buildings and in his city stretched out below. And having the world's best Ramos Fizz with brunch. All of that and this: I remember what it was like to live in this country before that happened. I miss that the most and, unfortunately, have no evidence to suggest we will ever again experience that freedom from concern or that degree of optimism for our children's future.
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