Our eyes were glued to the TV watching an airliner fly into the side of the World Trade Center. Then the explosion, debris and finally, the panic.
We knew now, with certainty, America was at war, but a new kind of war, with a new kind of enemy, and an entirely new set of rules. We are in an ideological war, with an enemy that believes the United States is the great Satan. And this enemy is prepared to die in that cause.
If we are to survive, we have to be equally committed and be prepared to use our power, and to use it ruthlessly.
The sheer size and audacity of the conspiracy; to have the planning and capability to seize four or five commercial airliners simultaneously, and then crash them successfully into certain high-profile targets suggests organization, vast resources, training or recruitment of commercial pilots, up-to-the-minute intelligence, a detailed knowledge of commercial airline routes, and a network of operatives or sympathizers in this country and throughout the world. It means, in all probability, there are not just individuals involved, but probably countries. It also suggests an America grown arrogant and lax, somehow unwilling to face hard realities, with a security system run by people who are not very good at their jobs. If the FBI, CIA and Department of Defense can’t prevent an attack on our capital and our largest city, then we need new leaders of those agencies who can get the job done.
Like many of you may be, I’m not just angry-I’m far beyond that. I’m enraged, I’m murderous, and I think we, as a country, have to act. I don’t just mean we act in a balanced, judicious, careful and legalistic way with all due regard to the sensitivities of our allies. I mean, if we are to survive, we need to return this act of war with an overwhelming ferocity that sends a message to the world that this, we will not tolerate.