It is a few days after 9-11. I was going to write this on the 11th but thought I needed more time to think about that horrid day and the days that have passed in those 15 years after. Lots of things have happened as a result of that attack. We’ve had wars, brave people have given their lives in the name of fighting the threat that came from it. We have changed the world. The world has also changed on its own. The USA has less privacy because of this one day. Our government has become bigger, which is never a good thing. I have a daughter who is now a missionary. She was born in 1996. She was only 5 when our beloved country was attacked. She doesn’t remember it. All she knows is the post-911-world and nothing of the pre-9-11 world. For her it is natural to stand in line to go through security at an airport. She doesn’t understand what it’s like to live when the United States is not involved in a war.
The events of 9-11 caused America to promise, “We will never forget.” This meant to never forget the 3,000 victims of mass murder. To never forget the heroic actions of emergency personnel and average citizens. To never forget how that day felt, to ensure a similar event would never happen again.
President George W. Bush set the tone for “remembering” on the evening of September 11 in a speech from the Oval Office: “This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.
“None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.”
And in the wake of a collective tragedy, Americans did unite, for a while. Then 2008 gave us recession. I don’t think we got the “hope and change” we were promised.
America is thick with nostalgia and deep in mourning, remembering the poor, innocent souls who were lost 15 years ago.
In the intervening time, scores have been settled and the guilty have been vanquished only to see them replaced by threats more urgent, more organized and more aggressive. It is important that we all remember 9-11, but not for its own sake; we must remember so that we may hopefully prevent it or anything like it from ever happening again.
That we will be able to do so is a false proposition. Rather than united in opposition to terror the world is fragmented, with many of the nations who bore the cost in blood of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan skittish about the need for continued action. The Islamic State group runs rampant through portions of Iraq and has helped to destabilize Syria, sending countless refugees, mostly men but some women and children, west to sanctuary in Eastern Europe because those nation's closest to them will not take them in. Most alarmingly, it has taken just 15 years for America to go from united in the fight against global terror and the leadership of a president who saw terrorists for what they are and sought to eradicate them, to a divided nation. We are led by a president who now negotiates with them and whose party would easily throw off the government's responsibility to preserve our collective safety and security.
The deal with Iran, which President Barack Obama and the Democrats now own, lock, stock and barrel will not keep the peace. It will in fact embolden the Iranian government to see a nuclear future, one which imperils us all, as it is simply not to be trusted. Not by us, not by our European allies who helped negotiate the P5+1 agreement, and not by Israel, whom Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted just as the U.S. Congress was prepared to begin debate on the deal, would not exist a quarter century from now. How many times do the fanatics who control Iran have to make their intentions clear before everyone will believe them?
Where does this leave us now? In a world awash with uncertainty and violence and insecurity. We must depend on ourselves for our own security. I love our military but often think they are led by politicians in uniform. I still think it is the best in the world. Our Law Enforcement also. The majority of those people are upstanding lovers of our Constitution. They love their job of serving us. But with all of their great intentions, they all can’t control the world or be everywhere. We must take our security into our own hands. That is the intent of this web site. To assist and give some insight into our performance of our own safety and security.
I think I’ve been fairly successful at trying to bring many avenues of thought and ideas for you to provide your own personal and family security. I hope to continue. If you have any ideas or needs that you want addressed here then please feel free to give me suggestions.
I love this country. I have sworn to uphold the Constitution against “all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I hope that you too will remember 9-11 with reverence and as a wake-up call for us as citizens to care for ourselves. I also love the LDS Church. Mostly I love the gospel of Christ and continue to testify of Him and of His gospel.
May we be valiant and vigilant. May we commit now to being prepared and insuring the security of our country and our family.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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