The Tragedy of 9/11

The 9/11 attacks have been an unmitigated tragedy for the world. Nothing good has come out of that experience, beginning with the persons who lost their lives and their families. New York City suffered a fiery catastrophe from which it has slowly recovered. For our nation, 9/11 has been a turning point that has led down a path of war and national decline. The resulting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq drag on still seven years later, wasting untold human lives, American and foreign, military and civilian, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in what has been mostly a binge of violence and destruction. Much of the rest of the world has turned against the United States, seeing how irresponsibly we responded to things that most of them experienced in the last century many times over. The presidency of George W. Bush has been dragged down to the lowest level of perhaps any president in history. Our nation, with its levels of fear and paranoia, has been turning into what has been called a police state. And I haven't even mentioned the pitiful state of the economy and our energy situation.

Sad, sad tragedy. It is a good day to mourn, reflect, repent, and turn around.