Remembering 9/11: Why We Fight

It seemed fitting to me, that on this day, the 9th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks I should write a different kind of essay. Few will read this and fewer will fully understand, but the main purpose of my writings is not for others to read. Recently though, an individual who had just finished reading my book, Build to Break, made an interesting comment that sparked a bit of thought. This individual, after complimenting me on my efforts and praising my book, proceeded with the following caveat: "...but man, you need to chill out some." Chill out some. Really? Without elaboration, I was left to ponder the possible meanings of this statement. If that's the impression my book gives off, I thought, then I failed somewhere along the way as a writer. I realized, in retrospect, that while my book covers in relative depth how I am, it never adequately explains why. Since that is a subject the content of which could fill a dozen more books, I will simply address the particular facet of my personality the aforementioned comment seems to reference: My intensity.

Put simply, I am intense because I need to be. Apparently some people hold a convoluted notion that intensity is some kind of hyperactive disorder or a quality of the excessively somber. In my case at least, this could not be farther from the truth. I believe my 'intensity' is an invaluable asset; a product of my passions and a reflection of the way I choose to live life. It is also a virtual prerequisite of the career and life path I intend to take. It is my opinion that most Americans are idealists. In my view, this is a good thing. Idealists however, tend to look upon those of us with a more realistic point of view as cynical pessimists who focus only on the negative. Again, this simply is not the case. I can certainly look at the greener side of the fence, but unlike others I cannot ignore the charred earth on the other side.

The world for many people is a frightful, brutal, unforgiving place. We are fortunate enough to have been born into this free nation, which is mostly removed from that brutality. We have been given freedom, opportunity and an escape from fear. Here I sit, on a beautiful Saturday morning in a quiet, virtually crime and violence-free suburb of our nation's capital. We are all free to live our lives as we wish, and we are given the gift of opportunity--to better ourselves in whatever manner we choose, with the promise that we will never be forced to remain a certain way, or in a certain social status. We are being actively shielded from the horrors affecting much of the world, so that we may carry out our lives almost completely free from fear. I like to refer to our luxurious standard of living as the 'bubble.' Since most of us have little or no experience of the world outside our bubble, it is easy to forget or ignore the violence that plagues our planet and is destroying billions of lives of people less fortunate than ourselves. In effect, this 'bubble' becomes our world, and as a result it becomes difficult to imagine living any other way. I am personally extremely grateful I was born into this great country, and I am damned proud to be an American. I want to give back, the best way I know how and in a way that best suits my interests and goals. I don't want to take my freedom for granted one more day. And I believe my intensity is the key to letting me do exactly that. The explanation of all this is going to require a poignant example, and I can think of no more appropriate analogy to use to tie together these topics than the events of 9/11/01.

My eyes still well with tears and I still tremble with rage as I watch video re-runs of the hijacked airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers. Of terrified people jumping from 90 stories, having given up hope and wanting to escape the inferno at their backs. Of the towers collapsing from the hellacious fires, condemning thousands of people to a horrifying death. Of the chilling sound of several hundred locator beacons filling the air with an angry chirping as they cling to the corpses of firefighters who had raced into the burning towers, now buried under 500,000 tons of rubble and twisted steel. Often I feel as though I should be getting even more emotional, more enraged than I already am, as if I am failing to respect the magnitude of what happened that day. I was a high school freshman on 9/11, so I did not fully comprehend the gravity of those attacks at the time, though I had a pretty good idea of their magnitude. On September 11, 2001 our bubble was burst, at least temporarily. We had been assaulted with a horrific kind of violence that while new to us, has plagued humanity since the dawn of civilization. The people that visited this terror upon us did so because of a fallacious hatred so intense it cannot be contained. A hate that boiled and festered in the minds of evil extremists living half the world away.

It seems to sail straight over most peoples' heads that Al Qaeda did not just attack a military target. Not a base, not an intelligence center, not just our foreign policy makers or our government. They attacked completely innocent civilians who had nothing to do with what was happening in the middle east. Men, women and even children. They did this deliberately, to emphasize their message: They were attacking US. You and me. The American way of life, standard of living, individual behavior and beliefs. People are also quick to forget that 9/11 was not an isolated event. Al Qaeda had bombed the World Trade Center earlier, in '93, then the bombing of two American embassies in '98, and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. They have also attacked our Spanish, British and Danish allies to devastating effect, and have tried repeated failed attempts at attacking us again, most recently with the foiled Times Square car bombs--again a wholly civilian target. Men who hate us that much cannot be reasoned with and diplomacy is not even remotely an option on the table. They must be destroyed, or eviscerated enough that they lose the will to fight for their cause. Then peace can be established, and freedom maintained, but only when guarded by capable armed forces committed to its defense. People willing to die to defend freedom, and to give it to others. I am volunteering to do exactly that, and in order to win the fight against a people so evil and hateful that they would enthusiastically die just for the chance to see you suffer requires the intensity of hell itself. I am volunteering for several years of the most arduous military training in the free world, just for the opportunity to engage in what is arguably the most arduous form of warfare: Combat against evil ideas and beliefs, instead of an army. Against hate itself.

Re-read the declaration of independence some time, and this time bear in mind that it spells out every luxury and opportunity you enjoy. Bear in mind that it was written by men committed to its cause, in a time of war. That it was written in blood. The entire purpose of this country's founding was for its citizens to enjoy the freedom it provides, but we must not confuse that enjoyment with taking it for granted. Idealists are quick to point out the beauty of the world; all the magnificent and enchanting places you can travel to so as to better experience life. Indeed there are many such incredible places and I hope to visit as many of them as I can before I die. But we must not forget that we are unimaginably fortunate just to be able to consider visiting such places, and possessing the freedom and opportunity to be able to do so. We must not forget that the freedom we enjoy is not the norm, nor is even the concept of freedom itself desired universally. We must not forget the world outside our bubble, and the places where any one of you would be brutally murdered simply for being what you are: White, Christian, Jewish, female, American. Places like parts of Africa, Burma, North Korea, Mexico, Chechnya, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan to name a few. Places where millions of people suffer daily in the absence of true freedom. People who would gladly give anything to live in your bubble.

I love life and I want to live the hell out of it, my way, for as long as I have on this earth. I love our country and what it stands for and I want to fight for it, but I will do so with nothing less than the most capable warriors this world has ever produced. I have no illusions of 'saving the world,' but I want to do whatever I can to combat the hatred that would see innocent people suffer. Around the clock I wear a band on my right wrist that reads "Infidel Strong," a play on the Army's slogan of "Army Strong," and a defiant spit in the face to our extremist enemies. I use it as a subtle motivator in my quest to become an elite American warrior, and if I am afforded the honor to stand in the ranks of the SEAL Teams, and given the opportunity to combat this hatred, hopefully in the middle east, I will make our enemies very dearly regret having summoned my presence on the battlefield. If I must die in this effort so be it, but rest assured--I will take as many of those bastards with me as I can. "Chill out some." Now that you know why I choose to fight, and what that fight will demand, you should understand why I respond, "No, thanks." The objective of terrorism is to alter the way a people behaves or lives: To change them by fear. We in fact give a small victory to our enemies every year by reliving the terrorist attacks every anniversary of 9/11. Unfortunately we have to, because we must never forget the victims of that horrible day and the scarred families and friends still grieving for their losses.

We fight because we have to, in order to protect our way of life. To abandon our search for Bin Laden and our fight against Al Qaeda would be to give them victory by surrender. A victory, for the memories of the nearly 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11, they must never enjoy. These men will not stop, so neither can we. We must hunt down terrorists across the globe and purge them from our world, and we must do everything in our power to extend the comfort of our bubble to those people raped by senseless violence and unjust war. Ideally warfare would not be necessary, as it is a brutal and ugly thing that causes a great deal of pain and suffering. Realistically, the evil violence of our enemies such as extremist terror groups can only be stopped with a just violence more effectively employed. I choose to join in this battle because I believe I am physically and mentally prepared to do so. I will fight to defend the free and liberate the oppressed. And I will fight so that hopefully, others won't have to. And I plan to do it with nothing less than an intensity that is beyond measure.