Opinion: We must never forget horror of 9/11

I vividly remember, as I suppose everyone does, exactly where I was when Al Qaeda commenced its attack on the United States of America, on September 11, 2001. I was driving down I-84 in Boise, Idaho, heading to my office, when news of the first plane that hit the World Trade Center exploded across the Idaho airwaves, interrupting El Rushbo as he pontificated on the EIB network.

By the time I arrived at my office a few minutes later most of America knew that this magnificent country was being attacked. As the morning progressed, and the horror grew into a nightmare, I sent the 120 members of my credit collection team home for the remainder of the day. We collected credit card debt for Master Card and Visa, primarily on the East Coast, and my superiors agreed with my opinion that people in the New York and Washington D.C. areas – as well as the rest of the country needed a break from all unneeded trauma for the remainder of the day, as America attempted to understand the horrors of this cowardly attack on truly innocent people.

The Al Qaeda terrorists murdered seven of my friends, who worked for my former investment banking firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, Inc. They died in their offices on one of the floors above the entry point of the jet liner that slammed into their World Trade Center building. I can only imagine how gruesome their deaths must have been, since they were not fortunate enough to be killed instantly, and all of the escape routes out of the building were cut off by the hellish inferno that engulfed them.

So, for me, the terrorist attack of 9/11 is personal. Really though, when you get right down to it, 9/11 is personal for us all. It was an attack on all of us, and in a very real way, we are all victims of this cowardly mass murder.

I’ll be eternally grateful to President Bush for immediately commencing a plan to exact retribution for this hideous act. To this day, I’m not interested in justice being served on the perpetrators. I still demand retribution and vengeance for these acts of war committed by religious fanatics.

My only regret is that Dubya was distracted by Iraq and didn’t devote enough resources and troops to punish Afghanistan and Pakistan severely enough for their complicity in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not yet been completely destroyed. We must not rest until they are all completely destroyed.

We must not be deluded into thinking that the people in Afghanistan and Pakistan are our friends and care one iota about us. I have a friend, named Abdul, who immigrated to the U.S. with his family several years ago. His parents were assassinated by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His father, a pro-American political leader was murdered because of his friendship with America.

His mother Meena (Google “Meena” for details) was assassinated by the Haqqani Network and Taliban because she was teaching young girls to read and write. The killers forced Abdul and his siblings to watch as they dragged their mother out of the house and shot her in the back of the head.

Abdul and I had many discussions about the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He told me that most of the people in that God forsaken land absolutely hate everyone from other countries, particularly the West. They have a burning desire to slaughter us simply because we exist and do not believe in the tenets of Islam. No amount of foreign aid and nation building will change their mindset.

Today, on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, Al Qaeda is a shadow of its former self. Now, there may be a danger of complacency on our part. Experts and scholars contend that Al Qaeda has been able to reconstitute itself in Yemen, Somalia, and Mali. Al Qaeda remains strongly connected to Pakistan. Some experts suggest that Syria may present Al Qaeda with an opportunity to make inroads there too.

While Al Qaeda once represented a mortal threat to America, it appears to have diminished, but do not be mistaken. It remains the symbol of the protest of Muslims around the world against regimes they hate, and a world order dominated by the United States and the rest of the West. It has tapped into the anger and malevolence of millions in the Muslim world.

We must never forget that nothing changes the grim reality that a handful of people, supported by small amounts of cash, can cause death and destruction on a vast scale in today’s world.

We must never, ever forget what they did. We must never forget that if given the chance, they will attempt to destroy us.