Son of US Army officer retired, US Army veteran and soldier in RVN, father to current infantry leutenant in 82nd Airborne (who will be first in to any ground action in this War).
My prayers go out for America, the safety of all of our sons and daughters in the services, and the eradication of terrorism with the least loss of further US and innocent lives globally.
Some additional random thoughts:
Please recognize that all of our actions can potentially spawn new generations of terrorists and that anyone who has the willingness to blow themselves up can eventually get through our security measures. What we are looking at here is not a desert storm type action but something more similar to Viet Nam, a long and protracted affair. It will be so sustained an action that our national and collective attention span for addressing this will need to be lengthened beyond our average tolerance.
We are going to give up lots of our freedom and privacy as we react to this.
Remember also that these people do not have to follow any rules for decency and that life is not at all sacred to them. We may therefor have to decide to be as ruthless as them by creating more terror in their hearts than they have in ours. This attitude must be cultivated, coordinated, and shared by allied nations globally and we need to delay Armageddon while doing all of this.
I believe as private citizens, we now need to think of our own behavior on the next hijacked plane. We must not say this is someone else's problem to come and address or believe that we are being taken to Cuba for a short interuption of our trip. We need to be willing to do what was apparently done in PA this week or alternately get on our cell phones and direct the F-16's to our wing tip.
For the veterans..... we are, for the first time in recent history, fighting the battles on our own shores now and just like before its for keeps. Also, just like before, the enemy is determined. Has it hit you? We can't do our tours and go home folks. Put your game face on...... the name of the game is war and the stakes...... you bet your life AND THIS TIME your way of life.
For the christians among us..... This, by nature, is not simply a war between countries but it is a war between good and evil and is therefor unwinnable by military or covert action. We will always have good and evil in the world. As believers we also know that this is a war that was already won for all eternity by our savior on the cross. We, as a country, will wage war and seek justice now but also having an eye to eternity, we will remove this scourge in a way that befits our country's foundation of trust in a God who is ultimately in control. Resolve was a well chosen word. God Bless America!