It's hard to believe that it has already been five years since the shocking events of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred. As with President Kennedy's assassination for our grandparents and the Challenger explosion for our parents, most of us will always remember where we were when we first heard of the horrendous attack against our nation. America was given a wake-up call on that appalling day five years ago, and we must continue to learn from it.
In many ways, we as Americans are very isolated. Before Sept. 11, 2001, many had failed to even consider that there are peoples and ideologies across the world that hate the United States and would love nothing more than to see us attacked, devastated, and destroyed. That is why we must continue to do everything possible to ensure the safety of our country. Yes, it's inconvenient to not have any toothpaste in your carry-on or to have your bag searched on the subway. However, we cannot afford to let down our guard. The recently foiled British terror attack showed us that this battle against terrorists is far from over. Unfortunately, a simple law of mathematics is advantageous to the terrorists-we have to stop them every single time. All they need to do is slip one bomb or one sample of anthrax past us and the terror that they could unleash could make Sept. 11 pale in comparison. While we may all have different ideas as to how to keep our nation most safe, the important thing is to set petty politics aside and to work for what is best for the nation. Perhaps President Kennedy said it best when he remarked, "Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer."
Sept. 11 highlighted an unpleasant fact-we are just as vulnerable as any other country. It is so easy to dismiss acts of terrorism, genocide and hatred when they're happening on the other end of the globe. However, when the foray extends not into Jerusalem or Darfur but into New York City or Washington, D.C., it's all but impossible to ignore. Sept. 11 opened our eyes and gave us new perspective on the horror of terrorism.
Our lives will never be the same after that fateful day. America has been, as President Bush said in his 2002 State of the Union, "called.to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight." As fascism threatened our grandparents' generation and Communism threatened our parents', Islamic extremism seems to threaten our generation. While people have argued about America's superpower status ever since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the truth is, the world looks to us. America has and will continue to lead the charge in eliminating the causes, funding, and support of terrorism. It's already been an extremely difficult path, with Iraq bogging us down and other nations, such as Iran, defying us every step of the way. This fight will be neither short nor easy. We are not fighting a concrete enemy, like the Nazis of World War II, but rather an ideology that stands in the way of freedom and liberty. The question that remains, though, is if we will have the determination to fight until the end. The fervent wish of the terrorists is that we fail in our mission to secure the blessings of freedom, liberty, and democracy for the whole world over.
America must not forget the atrocities of Sept. 11. We must not capitulate to those that would love to destroy all that we stand for. As long as the Stars and Stripes flies highly and proudly, we will continue to fight for all that we hold dear. While we may be a nation of vastly different people, it is not our differences that define us. In the end, we're not white or black, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat. We're all Americans.
Caleb Enerson is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs
and a conservative columnist for The Eagle.
