I Remember

It was a little after 8:00 AM on a Tuesday, a kid that worked for me walked up to me where I was pouring over a set of electrical blueprints spread across the hood of my truck. He asked me if I had heard about a plane hitting "those two big buildings in New York" as he put it. I asked him if he meant the Twin Towers and he said yes. I turned the radio on in my truck and was listening to the news just as United 175 slammed into the second tower. I was stunned and knew that this was it, the attack that James Marshall told me about.

James Marshall was a Naval Intelligence officer that I met in 1988. I was at a conference at Seymour Johnson AFB where he gave seminar and disclosed a somber prediction. That the United States would see a large scale terrorist event inside its borders within 10 to 20 years and such an attack would most likely be directed at a high profile target like the World Trade Center. And he was right...... twice. That was 1987, six years before Ramzi Yousef conspired to blow up the WTC and Fourteen years before Al Qaeda succeeded. But, James Marshall nailed it and our government missed it... twice.

The fact that the United States government missed it is not that surprising. Our govenment is a mess. The bureaucratic quagmire in DC is never going to change until we start at one end of Pennsylvania Avenue weeding out every functionary who's sole existence is to leak sensitive information to the NYT on our dime. That most likely will not happen in our lifetime.

In truth if truly do want these madmen to attack this country again it will require our very society to change. The apathy which has ruled this nation has to stop. The lack of interest we have toward the daily operation of government has be replaced with accountability. The tolerance of partisan antics and grandstanding needs to stop. Our system is broken and we have to see that it is fixed. We need to carefully elect our officials and throw out the people that aren't working for the good of this nation.

The most important thing that each of must embrace is to never forget who this enemy is. It does not matter why they are. They have proven time and time again that they can not be reasoned with. The only thing that will appease them is the destruction of this nation.

Unfortunately our greatest asset is also our greatest weakness. Our freedoms have to be used responsibly, if we do not we play right into their hands. They understand us better that we understand ourselves. They are committed, they are determined, and they do not forget.... neither should we.