September 11, 2006 [LINK / comment]

9/11: Five years later

On the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, I would like to contribute to memories of our proud history by sharing photos I took of those awesome skyscrapers in 1987.

World Trade Center above World Trade Center below

We are living in troubled times, testing each of us as we strive to draw meaning from the assault on America that took place five years ago. As ABC's movie The Path to 9/11 makes clear, this country's government and people lived in blissed unawareness of the fact that, as early as 1993, we already were at war with Islamic terrorists (or fascists). It was not essentially a matter of law enforcement then, and it is not now either. The objections some people raised to that movie, which is a powerful and gripping dramatization (!) of the events leading up to 9/11, are a bad sign that some people loathe to face up to the harsh truth. On this solemn occasion, however, we should not quarrel about politics or lay blame for our past failures. I pray for national reconciliation and reunification, and that each of us be motivated to reflect on what he or she could do to make our nation stronger, safer, and even better than it already is. I am...

Proud to be an American!