“We are highly resolved that these dead shall not have died in vain.”
— President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, Pa., Nov. 19, 1863
Seven years ago today, nearly 3,000 innocent souls were killed by terrorists in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and in a field in Pennsylvania.
In the first months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Americans rallied behind President Bush and our government, wanting to bring justice to the victims and retribution for the United States.
American troops, backed by a wide coalition of nations, boldly went into Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban, which was hiding al-Qaeda, the terror organization behind the attacks, and its leader, Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 mastermind.
But then the Bush administration turned its focus from Afghanistan to initiate the war in Iraq. We’d been after Saddam Hussein for some time, and intelligence reports, we were told, confirmed that Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
Well, we found Saddam, but no WMD. We sent in thousands of troops to build a democracy, but found resistance from multiple factions. To date, more than 4,150 U.S. servicemen and women have been killed and thousands more injured.
Meanwhile, left mostly unchecked, the Taliban regained its stronghold in Afghanistan. And worse, bin Laden is still in hiding.
There is hope, though. Afghanistan is finally getting attention again. Two days ago, Bush announced he was sending 4,500 more troops into the region.
Is it too late?
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, addressed the issue before Congress on Wednesday. CNN reports that “Mullen said he was convinced the Afghanistan war can be won but said the U.S. urgently needs to improve its nation-building initiatives and its cross-border strategy with Pakistan.”
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama must present to American voters clear, precise and definitive plans for ending the war in Iraq and continuing our work to unearth the terrorists in Afghanistan, most especially bin Laden.
On this heartbreaking anniversary, we deserve to believe in the hope we were offered seven years ago. That hope is bolstered somewhat by the fact that there have been no more terrorist attacks in the United States since that day.
But still, there’s so much to do.
Meanwhile, we find it heartening that McCain and Obama will set aside their campaigning today to stand together at Ground Zero. Some may see it as overt politicking, but we think it is how this dreadful day should be remembered: with United States citizens standing in unity.
