The United States military forces and the intelligence agencies have finally taken out the dangerous terrorist they have been chasing for nearly ten years. I'm not foolish enough to think that Al Qaeda's done terrorizing others now that Bin Laden is gone, but it's great to know that after almost ten years, he is no longer around.
It's incredible to think that is has been nearly ten years since that horrific day.
The New York skyline is still a constant reminder of that day. I was in New York last fall and it is still odd to see the skyline without those two iconic buildings.
I remember the day clearly. I was a senior in high school. First period was just about to end when my teacher started acting weird and turned on the news. Then the bell rang and I remember hurrying to my second class, where I was a teacher assistant in the dean's office. There, right on television, they played over and over the World Trade Center buildings, one of them with smoke billowing out of it...and then the second plane flew in. It was so surreal at first. If it were just one, we though it might have been an accident, or at worst, one crazy hi-jacker. It almost seemed like a movie. Then the fear set it. We were actually under attack.
Who did this?
Why would they want to hurt us?
Will they strike again?
Where are they going next?
Then President Bush declares war.
He calls it a 'War on Terror'.
We were united as a nation. We all were just Americans. Being a Democrat or Republican was no longer as important. We stood together in sorrow for those lives that were lost. The majority of congress decided to go after those bad guys. No one likes war, but those who did this needed to answer for their wrong doings...for the murder of innocent lives. I was not thrilled we were going to war, nor how we really went about things. But, President Obama has kept most of Bush's policy's for these wars in place and they finally did get Bin Laden.
I guess we can criticize all we want, but until we are allowed to know everything they know in the White House, we really can't point fingers so much because we are lacking so much information.
How far we've come as a nation in those ten years. Some positive, but mostly negative. We're back at each other...tearing each other apart because of different ideals and what's best for the individuals instead of what is best for a nation. We are all so selfish.
The ones who have remained selfless, are those still fighting for our freedoms.
They're the ones who have left their loved ones. They've missed the birth of their children. They've missed holidays, birthdays and graduations. They've seen horrible things that they will never forget. All so we can stand and argue about whether or not the president is an American, or whether or not we should give or take away from social programs, or how about raising or lowering taxes, or giving away more money or cutting budgets.
All of these are important issues, don't get me wrong. We are not always going to agree on everything. But since when did these things become more important than being a united nation? United We Stand--It doesn't appear that way when you really look at things. We need to get our priorities in check. Let's work on protecting ourselves and building each other up. Let's have a good debate and work out real solutions to problems instead of trashing the other side and automatically voting against everything they say just because you are of different parties. We should never forget what happened. We should take away the feelings of resolve we had in those days after our attack. We are a great nation. We are Americans. If we do not stand together united...in the end we will all fall.
It's important everyday, but if you get a chance, thank a soldier today. I'm sure they are all celebrating. Some of them have been away from home for so long and finding Bin Laden is a victory.
