Anniversary of 9/11 attacks is a time for us to take stock

Six years have passed, and yet the images of passenger airliners commandeered by Middle Eastern terrorists slamming into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City still shocks the senses.

Time will not heal the national wounds suffered on Sept. 11, 2001, when murderers of Saudi Arabian descent flew two airplanes into the North and South towers, crashed a third into the Pentagon, and took over a fourth, only to be overpowered by passengers. That jetliner slammed into a field in western Pennsylvania.

But while the nation today marks what is now known as Patriot Day, six years is long enough for us to come up with an answer to a question that, unfortunately, has been overshadowed by the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: How do we live in what President Bush has called a “dangerous world”?

Iraq, and even Afghanistan, have proved that military might alone will not win the war on global terrorism that the president declared shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

Iraq is taking center stage this week with the long-awaited report on the American military surge. That issue will be addressed in an editorial Wednesday.

Today, we remember the more than 3,000 innocent victims of the 9/11 attacks and reflect on what has happened to the American way of life — against the backdrop of the reality of global terrorism.

Military excursions

In past editorials we have focused on America’s military excursions around the world to bring to justice those responsible for the 9/11 acts of terror and to destroy the global terrorist networks, especially those of al-Qaida. We have expressed misgivings about the steps taken in the name of domestic security, especially those actions that undercut the Constitution’s protection of our freedoms. And, we have discussed the war in Iraq, a war that shows no sign of ending any time soon.

Today, we use the space to offer a piece of advice to the Bush administration: Don’t be so quick to dismiss Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. He has avoided capture or death despite all the strategies developed by the White House, including a huge monetary reward, to bring him to justice.

A videotape released last week — another was expected shortly — shows bin Laden not only looking surprising healthy, given the reports of kidney disease, but sounding as defiant as ever. Bin Laden talks about the failure of the U.S. to end the violence in Iraq and reminds the world that he has not been captured. He also advises United States to embrace Islam.

In reaction to last week’s tape, the president’s homeland security adviser dismissed bin Laden as “virtually impotent,” noting that he is “a man on the run, from a cave.”

“We know that al-Qaida is still determined to attack, and we take it seriously,” said Frances Fragos Townsend. “But this tape appears to be nothing more than threats. It’s propaganda on their part.”

Propaganda with a goal: To let his followers know that he is still alive and has his wits about him, and to let the West know that he is well aware of what is going on in the war on global terrorism and the quagmire that is Iraq — despite his being holed up the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Because there has not been a terrorist attack on America’s homeland in the past six years and because of the success in bringing to justice many of bin Laden’s key operatives, there is a tendency on the part of some in Washington to believe that America has al-Qaida on the run.

We would remind Townsend and others in the administration who are so quick to dismiss bin Laden to remember that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the culmination of more than a decade of discussion, planning and preparation.

Terrorists know that there will always be a target called the United States of America, and so they have no reason to act in haste.

That’s one of the lessons of Sept. 11, 2001.