My heart goes out to those who lost friends and family in the recent attacks. My words can not describe the pride I feel for those American heroes on United Flight 93 that saved countless lives and those thousands at work at ground zero, in hospitals and in support for those most traumatized by this recent attack by an enemy that for a decade has declared war against America.

We have watched as Usama bin Laden, his Al-Qaeda ("The Base") and related terrorist cells have been identified as the killers in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, in the bombing of our Saudi Arabia barracks, in the multiple United States Embassy bombings and in the most recent assault on the USS Cole. These attacks were traced to these Al-Qaeda networks- in fact, some followed bin Laden videos predicting imminent destruction and imploring a "Call-to-Arms" among his terrorist cells.

We have postured passively as these indiscriminate murderers periodically pounded on our psyche and applied sanctions while they stole our loved ones.

Our impotent response: a few cruise missiles sent into the rural foothills of Afghanistan and Sudan that were clearly timed more for domestic political redirection than a conviction to engage an enemy that has declared war on our nation.

We have made no effort to address the countries that openly harbor and facilitate these killers of Americans- the Taliban Government in Afghanistan, at least 10 large training cells and technological and financial assistance in Syria, the Hezbollah in Lebanon and the list goes on- with the same culpability that we apply to those who facilitate murder in our country.

Just as significant are the restrictive guidelines applied to our intelligence community by the previous administration in late 1995 that essentially prohibited contact with the only individuals that are likely to provide insight and access to these terrorist cells.

This flower child foreign policy of the last 8 years has emboldened terrorism and allowed their networks to thrive in more than 50 countries and number in the tens of thousands.

We must wake up.

Technological evolution dictates that the tools of the terrorist's trade are on the verge of escalating this reality to the next, most terrible, level. Greater accessibility to the materials and knowledge for the production of suitcase-sized nuclear devices and advanced delivery methods of biological weapons offer a horizon of horrific destruction that dwarfs the sadness in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

At that point, our American Dream will be shackled by a fear that can not be forced from the back of our minds and an inherent sense of doubt of the long-term future that will be debilitating in our quest for the goals we hold dear.

It is imperative that the lives were not lost in vain- that their sacrifice becomes the trigger for the process to rid the world of these indiscriminate killers. These terrorist networks must be dismantled and this will require the elimination of our tolerance of nations sponsoring and harboring these killers.

There can be no middle ground- only when there is no sanctuary for terrorists can we hope to win this war. We must demand from nations sponsoring terrorism that the killers are surrendered, their facilities destroyed, their financial pipelines closed and assets seized. We must demonstrate that any government harboring terrorism will no longer exist.

This war will be a global effort- more than 40 countries lost citizens to these attacks and all civilized nations face the rapidly escalating reality of events that threaten to destabilize the civilized world.

As our President has made clear- you are either with us in this war or you are not.

Once faced with this new resolve, as the cooperative reaction of Pakistan indicates, it is an easy decision for these governments- Islamic Holy Warriors or the elimination of government and military assets and political and economic isolation.

We must authorize our intelligence agencies, and implore those of our allies, to exterminate these individuals as they crawl from their caves and scurry in vain to find new havens of safety. Our intelligence resources at ground level have to be revived.

We must think proactively in making changes at home, from preventing access to commercial flight decks to applying greater scrutiny to private aviation. We must address the security of other domestic institutions that can be directed as weapons against our citizens- trains, trucks hauling inflammable materials, etc.

We must extend the greater flexibility afforded those fighting organized crime to those fighting terrorism. We must tighten the sieves that our borders have become and engage the Coast Guard and National Guard in more aggressive approaches to coastal protection.

We must no longer ignore the recommendations of our greatest minds on the threats of terrorism- the recent Hart-Rudman report predicted even greater devastation and suggested the creation of a cabinet-level agency to address this "certain" threat but went largely ignored by our Congressional leadership.

Together, civilization must use all of the diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military tools at our disposal to produce a never-ending story of unwavering resolve to rid the terrorist networks of their killers and resources.

To this end, the lives lost in this tragedy will reflect greater good than we can now appreciate. In fact, it is nearly inevitable that the sacrifice of these 2001 heroes will prove to be the catalyst that awakens America and the world to our greatest challenge and saves more lives than we can now imagine.

We realize now that our lives will never be quite the same. The Sunday morning following the attack young girls were riding their bikes through our neighborhood counting flags- "105" they yelled as I made sure they counted both of mine- and defining the depth of our resolve.

John Reid Port- 9/16/2001
www.fancam.com

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