World Trade Center Attack

9/11....Five Years Later
By Theodore Sares

By 10 am on September 11, 2001, the unthinkable had happened and thousands of innocent, hard-working, life -loving Americans had been murdered on a crisp bright day. Islamic terrorists had flown hijacked jets into New York's World Trade Center. Later that day, most Americans felt the need for overwhelming retaliation. They felt this because they knew a monstrous evil have been let loose and would need to be dealt with quickly and decisively.

But for many around the world, 9/11 was a day of celebration..perverse people rejoiced in seeing our great land of freedom, liberty and prosperity bloodied...they celebrated the fact that thousands were trapped in burning towers, some escaping the fire by plunging to their deaths...they celebrated the last calls made by our fellow Americans to their relatives and loved ones knowing that their death was imminent.

On September 12 , 2001, my wife and I were having lunch in Gaspe, Quebec Province, Canada and were still pretty much in shock. As we watched events unfold on the television set, tears generated by both rage and sorrow streamed down my cheeks. I remember the chef coming out from the kitchen and hugging me and offering consolation. I'll never forget that as long as I live.

In February 2006, much of the Muslim world raged over a series of insulting cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper. There was an extended wave of violence and vandalism against Westerners and their institutions in Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Many apologies were made and some came from leading American politicians. Bill Clinton, though certainly not of Ted Kennedy's ilk, jumped into the pot of self-castigation by saying: "None of us are totally free of stereotypes about people of different races, different ethnic groups, and different religions...there was this appalling example in...Denmark...these totally outrageous cartoons against Islam." The U.S. Government announced that while free speech is important, the government shares "the offense that Muslims have taken at these images," and even hinted that it was disrespectful to publish them.

As we drove back to Quebec City, cutting our vacation short, we tried to make some sense of what was happening. By then it was clear that the Pentagon and Shanksvillve had been included in the attacks. I recall stopping at a yarn shop to get some red, white and blue material to put on my truck. Might sound a bit over-dramatic, but it sure wasn't at the time and we needed to fly the colors. And we needed to get back home...to talk to our children.