|
North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical FW: We'll go forward from this moment
> -----Original Message----- > > It's my job to have something to say. > > They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which > troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when > hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, > the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown > author of this suffering. > > You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. > > What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our > World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would > learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed. > > Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. > > Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. > > Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together. > > Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome > family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class > division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of > expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a > singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. > We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets > and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life > with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally > decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to > know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming > majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God. > > Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes > us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in > ways that cannot be measured by arsenals. > > IN PAIN > > Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. > We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, > still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special > effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development > from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their > ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely > to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the > United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've > bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. > > But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making > us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow > the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought > us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in > our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of > barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any > length, in the pursuit of justice. > > I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as > you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to > tremble with dread of the future. > > In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, > fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen > and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will > be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. > We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But > determined, too. Unimaginably determined. > > THE STEEL IN US > > You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect > of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us > well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold. > > As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as > Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish. > > So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me > that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If > that's the case, consider the message received. And take this > message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what > we're capable of. You don't know what you just started. > > But you're about to learn. >
|