SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: Terror Strikes Our Homeland

On September 11th, America woke up to the terrible realization that hatred born and bred on the other side of the globe could explode with horrible consequences on our very doorsteps.

In the days following the bloody and cowardly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C., many people have drawn parallels between these events and the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s a reasonable comparison and a natural one, emotionally. But as the veteran newsman, Daniel Shorr, said, “At least with Pearl Harbor, we had a return address.” But not with this attack.

The landscape of war has changed dramatically since World War II. Enemies don’t always face each other across battlefields, don’t gather on opposing hillsides. We can no longer simply identify our enemies by the flags they fly or the borders they live within. We can no longer just point to a place on the globe and say, “Here is the threat, here is the danger, here is the enemy.”


Mayor Giuliani

Today the enemies of the free world operate in the darkness of anonymity. The light of scrutiny and recognition is their weakness. Their strength is in the invisible nature of their organizations, their origins, their supporters, and their intentions. Powerful armies are ill prepared to fight an enemy who remains invisible and who wages merciless war on innocent civilians.

As the leader of the free world, the United States engenders the hostilities of many enemies, great and small. Over the years we have endured many terrorists attacks against our people and property, including embassy bombings in Africa to the more recent attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen. But never in our worst nightmares did we imagine such attacks as we witnessed on September 11. Never did we imagine how vulnerable we are, nor how proficient and vicious our enemies could be within our very own borders.

Secretary Powell and President Bush are correct in saying these attacks constitute an act of war. When terrorists tried to topple the World Trade Towers in 1993 with a truck bomb, we should have been just as enlightened. But until September 11, we continued to cling to the delusion that international terrorism is something that happens far from our shores but never at home.


President Bush at FEMA

We now know otherwise, as once again we have another terrible day of infamy seared into our national memory. We can only hope (no, insist!) that President Bush follows through and commits our vast diplomatic, intelligence, and military resources to waging war on international terrorist in kind. To do anything less would be to dishonor the thousands of innocent victims in New York and Washington. To do anything less would be an abdication of his most solemn responsibilities as commander in chief.

To have the full cooperation of our allies would be helpful, but it is not essential. The September 11th attacks demonstrated that we are up against foes who are vastly more sophisticated and resourceful than we ever imagined. We now know that they can operate within our very borders, and can launch audacious attacks against our national symbols with horrifying consequences.

We can no longer afford to simply wait for the next attack, then retaliate against some terrorists training base in the desert, or suspected weapons-producing facility. We need to take the fight to their front door.

After the devastating Pearl Harbor sneak attack that brought us into World War II, we didn’t hunker down and wait for the Japanese to strike again. We deciphered their code and learned of their plans to attack Midway Island. Then we waited for them there with an inferior force and won a decisive victory that the Japanese forces were never able to recover from.


Fireman on Site of World Trade Center Destruction

This is what the Bush administration needs to do now, with or without a global coalition. First of all, we need to follow the trails left by the terrorists. This attack represents the worst intelligence failure in our nation’s history. We have to pick up the pieces, and be certain that September 11 wasn’t just the first phase of a series of domestic terrorist attacks. Tracking down what remains of their domestic sympathizers and collaborators is job one. We need to re-assure the public that our nation is secure, that another Pearl Harbor isn’t right around the corner.

At the same time, we need to be following the trails beyond our borders, into the Middle East or wherever they lead. We must be patient but relentless. Islamic terrorist groups are the primary suspects, but they shouldn’t be the only ones. Osama bin Laden is only one man living in a tent in the middle of the Afghan desert. He didn’t just snap his fingers and three jet planes slammed into out buildings. It took an organization with a global presence to plan, organize launch the September 11 attacks. And all organizations have hierarchies of leadership and management. Our job now is to illuminate that organization, to strip away the veil of secrecy and reveal the people who get things done.

We are an impatient nation, and our enemies use that against us over and over again. We must resist the temptation to strike our blindly just to get it out of our system. The war on terrorism won’t be won in an afternoon, like the battle of Midway was when we sank four Japanese carriers in 16 minutes. This war will be waged quietly, methodically and ruthlessly. It will be waged in the shadows and under the radar. It will produce few headlines but many heroes.


Rescuer and Dog Looking for Survivors at World Trade Center

President Bush is preparing the nation for a protracted struggle — as well he should. This is an effort that is long overdue. We’ve ignored warnings for years about just such an escalation of terrorism within our borders. And now it has happened on a horrific scale. By no choice of our own, the battle has now been joined. We have the means to carry the struggle to the enemy. All that is left to discover is do we have the will?

October 1, 2001 | Filed Under GFA 
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