A Nation in Shock.

Four days have passed since an unspeakable act of war was perpetrated against our country. 
Today, we are a nation in mourning, a nation in shock, and a nation united in prayer and hope that survivors can be found. 

I, along with most other Americans, nay, most civilized people, am furious and outraged at this vile, despicable act of treachery. I hope and pray that we as a nation can remain steadfast in our resolve to eliminate those responsible.

I am also afraid that we will remain steadfast in our resolve to eliminate those responsible. 

For it will be a long arduous process, not without cost. We must steel ourselves for battle. We must also realize that there will be casualties. This will be a different war than anything most of us could imagine. The enemy will not play by the rules as they are spelled out in the Law of Land Warfare. He has already proven that by killing at least 5,000 innocent civilians. He is committed, dedicated, and more than willing to die for his cause. We must be equal to the challenge. The rules have changed. 

We also need to temper our anger with reason as we are, after all, civilized people. Let's not stoop to their level of hatred. We can't denounce an entire race of people or an entire religion based on the acts of a few zealous hate-mongers who hypocritically wage war on innocent people in the name of God. These people do not speak for all of Islam nor do they speak for all Arabs. 

Bottom line:

We are in for a very rough ride. There will be strikes and retaliatory strikes. Military action and more atrocious deeds committed by fanatics swept up in their misguided religious fervor. 

There will be more bloodshed. There will be more pain and suffering. And, hopefully, at the end of it all, there will be no more terror.

Like most Americans, in my mind I have a list of wishes. I wish they would find more survivors. I wish Saddam would claim responsibility for the attack. I wish we could prove that Saddam and Usama Bin Laden DID orchestrate this horrible event together. I wish the spin doctors would quit bad-mouthing the US Intelligence Community. (I mean, come on! The US is over 3000 miles coast-to-coast with a LOT of attractive targets for such acts. If anything, blame the previous administration for the decimation of our human intelligence (HUMINT) capability, extreme near-sighted oversight, and the unwillingness to follow through on rhetoric thereby giving rise to an enemy who would dare do this to us, and for the complete breakdown of the mightiest military on earth by cutting its size by two-thirds and forcing it to become some grand social experiment.) I wish the networks broadcasting continuing coverage of the disaster would lose those annoying graphics at the bottom of the screen. I wish they didn't interview idiots like the son of Billy Graham who proposed that we use weapons of mass destruction instead of troops. (Stick to preaching, God boy.) I wish that God will guide us and help us through the trying times that are sure to come. 

I wish this WAS just a movie.

I wish you all peace.

- Mike Jacquard
15 September 2001