Remember who we are

We have suffered a terrible blow. One so great, in fact, that it is right now difficult for us to appreciate its full magnitude and implications. Great symbols of our national life have been assaulted, damaged and destroyed, with a loss of so much innocent blood that the pain of it is beyond all telling. We feel this pain with every cell of our vulnerable humanity.

In the midst of these feelings, it is naturally difficult even to conceive of the evil that causes it. Yet in this vulnerable moment of our hurt and grief and mourning, it is urgent that we grasp the nature of that evil so that we can, with discipline and understanding, fortify ourselves against it.

We have not only been subjected to a series of terrorist attacks. Rather, we have been the object of a strategic plan, ruthlessly conceived and callously executed. Though we call it terrorism, terror was only the instrument, not the objective of the perpetrators. Their objective is to destroy our whole way of life. This was no act of passion, no spasm of outraged ideology, no desperate bid for the world’s attention. This was an act of hateful war, having as its priority the ultimate aim of hatred, which is simply to destroy.

In all that we do, we should strive to show the decency, the civility, the respect for human dignity that ought to characterize a free people. It is not our way to answer hate with hate. But we are a people conscious of our God-given right to live in peace and without fear. And it is our duty to make clear to all those who seek to deny that right that we are willing and able to answer war with war.

Though they are surely guilty of acts that violate the most basic laws and premises of decent human conduct, the perpetrators of these attacks cannot be compared to the criminals who claim to live in the purview of civil society, yet violate its duly constituted laws. Their utter disregard for even the most elementary bonds of humanity was clearly revealed in the instruments they chose for their attacks. They were totally blind to the humanity of the unarmed and innocent passengers and crew aboard the jetliners they used as missiles in their assault. These terrorists did not consider their feelings, they did not consider their worth; they did not even consider their fear worthy of a moment’s notice. The people aboard those planes had no more significance to them than paint or metal or fuel, the lifeless components of their weapons of choice.

Clearly, attacks conceived and perpetrated with such complacent and casual inhumanity pose a threat that goes beyond the ordinary categories of law enforcement, and even beyond the usual categories of war. We must meet this extraordinary threat with extraordinary resolve, so that those who plan these attacks, those who execute them and those who harbor, facilitate or abet their activities live every moment in the very shadow they seek to cast upon us – the shadow of implacable doom. They must understand that we will seek out their persons, their military and other material assets, and their financial resources, and by all appropriate and conscionable means, we will destroy them.

In 1993, terrorists first assaulted the World Trade Center in New York. Yesterday, some eight years later, terrorists achieved that objective. Clearly we face a persistent strategic threat, and our response must be to develop and implement, as a permanent feature of our national security policy, a strategic response aimed at destroying the components of that threat. It is not enough to respond when organized attacks occur. We must attack the components of terror to disrupt and destroy their effectiveness before attacks occur. Just as our body’s immune system constantly identifies and eliminates threats to our physical health before they become full blown infections, so our national security system must be prepared constantly to identify and eliminate these terrorist threats. Our purpose cannot be merely to respond today or in the weeks ahead, but to develop and keep in place the assets and capabilities that will produce ongoing national immunity against terrorism. This will require, as a matter of first priority, an intense commitment to put in place and support pro-active intelligence-gathering assets truly equal to the challenge.

On Sept. 11, for the first time since America took to the air, all commercial domestic flights were grounded. This unprecedented action brings home clearly the reality of the disruption of normal life that the terrorist threat implies. Yet while it may be true that after the events of Sept. 11, America will never be the same, we must also be resolved that in spite of those events there are some things about America that we will not surrender. We will not surrender our liberties. We will not surrender our commerce. We will not surrender the avenues of travel, enterprise and cooperation that are the fruits of our hard work, science and ingenuity.

Some commentators and so-called experts have been quick to suggest that we will have to give up rights and freedoms in order to achieve greater security against the terrorist threat. They are wrong. The liberties of America’s citizens do not facilitate terrorism – rather it is the liberties we have wrongly allowed to non-citizens. Because so many of us are the heirs of America’s immigrant tradition, we have been tempted to lose sight of the common-sense truth that we have the right to maintain and enforce the distinction between those who are citizens and those who are not. We have the right to scrutinize more carefully the access and activities of non-citizens, and to bar from our ports of entry or expel any non-citizens who we believe are involved with or abet the terrorist threat. With fairness, but without apology, we must implement a regime that secures the borders and gateways of the nation.

Being a people of conscience, we are often prone to dwell upon our mistakes, deficiencies and failings. Sometimes this inclination leads us to suspect and blame ourselves for the world’s ills. Given the awful calamity we have suffered, I know some will be tempted to believe that somehow in our transgression, we have invited this retribution. “Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all.” In this moment, we would do well to remember that there is a God. We are not Him, and neither are the terrorist-murderers who are assaulting us. With our prayers, with our hearts and with all our faithfulness, we should commit both will and judgment to the Lord. Let us trust in Him so that, in this time of tragedy and trial, conscience will not falter, nor prudent courage fail. Let us pray that in His mercy, He will bless America beyond all deserving, as we know and believe He seeks to bless all humanity.