Today has been a day that I will NEVER forget. This morning my mother woke me up with news about the pentagon being hit. She had only heard about, not seen the news yet, and the what she told me made me think the Pentagon was gone. This woke me up immediately and the thoughts of "the military is useless" flashed through my mind. All day, I watched the horror unfold. I saw the second tower fall live. I watched as bomb threats were heard, and news correspondents were all rushed here and there. I watched the sorrow unfold. It was a catastrophe, pure chaos.
At first I was in shock. This slowly changed to disbelief, then anger, then sadness. I just took everything in at first, seeing what was happening. Then I simply couldn't believe it, it was almost like a dream... after this I became angered that someone would do this to human and moreover, my countryman. This happened in my country that I love. After that, I felt very much for those who were injured and killed, those who had to find them, the families of the victims, everyone affected by this. I still have trouble believing this happened....
I've always felt very safe in the center of the North American continent, in the heartland of the most powerful nation in the world. The U.S. has the largest and most powerful military in the world. We have the highest economy in the world right now (or did before this :-\). But then this happens, so very close to home, and my sense of security simply shattered. Things very close to home were affected directly by this. The IDS building (the tallest building in Minneapolis for those of you who don't know) was closed. The Mall of America was closed and evacuated. The employees couldn't even get to their cars. And even my little 7 yr. old brother was forced to have an indoor recess because of the possibility of a plane hitting there. It's all so very sad.
Another horrible part of this is, who did it? The U.S. has two aircraft carriers stationed just of the coast of NYC. We have 5 destroyers scouring the coast. Fighters are flying cover over the capitol of the United States. We're ready for war, we're really at war, but we don't even know who the enemy is. Sure there've been a few guesses (Osama Bin Laden of course the number 1 suspect) but we have no solid evidence. Personally, I think it's all to easy to point to Bin Laden. It has all his trademarks, it seems like something he would do, he has the resources to pull it off. But wouldn't you think he'd cover his tracks a little better? I mean, if it is him, we already know within hours of the attacks. It seems a little too easy to point your finger and say "you did it!" Who else it could be, I don't know. But it simply concerns me.
Another strange thing, the U.S. has been sealed off. You can't even get to Canada or Mexico. The border is sealed. Air trafic in the United States is non-existant. The U.S. is totally isolated. This has NEVER happened before. Of course, this is the first successful attack on the continental United States as well....
And there's something a little frightening... What's next? We've already seen that they're capable of something, what else could they be planning or have planned but are just waiting to strike. I don't know, but I'm not sure I want to find out. It could be bad....
I have a friend who I spoke with today. He was a block from the Twin Towers when they were first hit... He heard the bang, car alarms went off, chaos just issued out of every orifice in the city. I can't even imagine what it was like being there. I also thought of everyone here on this forum in the New York and D.C. areas. I was really concerned for your safety. I also have a couple of friends who are Middle-Eastern. I was really concerned about them, hoping they wouldn't be persecuted because of their nationality. I certainly hope they won't be.
This is a time for all just and good people of the world to join together to recover from this and then to retaliate on those responsible for this horrific event. It is a time for us all to stand fast against this present evil and show them that we will NOT be scared and confused and be beaten by this. We will show those who would do harm that we will NOT allow these acts to go unpunished, that we will find them and bring them to swift and sure justice. I would like to ask all of you who will to pray for the victims and their families, for the rescue workers who have to deal with the injured and the dead, for the leaders of the world to make the right choices and that those responsible will be punished.
May God bless us all,
-Jafin
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The Original Arch-Mage of the HADB
Destroyer of the evil Bunnies
Guardian of Boo