9/11…The Tenth Anniversary         

          This September 11, like every September 11 we will all be reliving the horror of the brutal attacks on American soil by militant Islamic terrorists.  And as we do every year, each of us will recall where we were and what we were doing at the time we heard the tragic news on that fateful day ten years ago.  Let us also recall the nearly 3,000 human beings who lost their lives that day and the families they left behind.  It is with great awe and tremendous appreciation that we remember the brave ‘first responders’ who gave their own lives to help others.  The contrast between these great souls and the animals who attacked us could not be more striking.  And let us not forget that more people were killed on 9/11 than during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. 

          The attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers and on the Pentagon and in the fields of Pennsylvania were an overt act of war.  Ten years later we are still at war with a brutal enemy who wants to bring sharia law to your town.  This enemy thinks nothing of sending innocent children to do their bidding and then blowing them up…or stoning women to death and chopping off heads, hands and feet in the name of allah.  Let us not be afraid to call them what they are.  Let’s say it again…militant Islamic terrorists!  We must redouble our efforts to destroy them and we must be prepared for a long fight.  What ever it takes, we will root them out where ever they are. 

          We are grateful for President George W. Bush, our strong, steady leader who fearlessly set in motion the wheels that have brought the enemy to its knees.  We are also grateful for our other great leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales, whose policies have kept us safe in the ensuing decade and still remain in place today.  And finally, we thank all the wonderful men and women in uniform who have answered the call to serve their country and who are making the world a better place for everyone.  May God bless each one of them and keep them safe until they all come home.