Five years ago this month, the world was rocked as jetliners were flown into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and another plane went down in Pennsylvania.
On Sept. 11, 2001, life as we knew it was changed forever. But as we watched the events unfold in front of us on television that day, it was too early to comprehend what this attack would truly mean to each of us individually and as a nation.
Many heroes were revealed that day. Firefighters and police officers who rushed into the burning World Trade Center and the Pentagon to save lives, many of whom lost their own in the process, and a group of passengers that fought back against the terrorists that hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, just to name but a few.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will always be remembered for his heroic leadership of New York City during the crisis.
I met with Giuliani on Aug. 30, when he was in Norfolk, Va., with Sen. George Allen, R-Va., for a briefing on port security. With the anniversary of Sept. 11 looming, the focus was on America’s security needs.
“It’s kind of natural that as a country we put a tremendous amount of emphasis on airport security,” Giuliani said. “That’s the way we were attacked, and it turns out a few weeks ago that’s the way they were planning to attack us again, so no one wants to minimize the importance of airport security. It continues to be critical. Port security didn’t get as much attention, maybe because it wasn’t the way in which the attack took place, and it needs to.”
“We can’t go back to the way we were before Sept. 11, which was largely to be on defense against terrorism,” Giuliani explained.
As the day went on, the themes became clear: Stay resolved, stay on offense and stay vigilant. I asked Giuliani what Sept. 11 has come to mean to him and to America five years later.
Understandably, Giuliani explained that his recollections are very complex.
“I have many memories. … I think about different things every day. … What comes to mind right now is how much this is an ongoing attack. You think of Sept. 11 as a historical event, but we can’t consign it to history yet, because it’s still ongoing.”
Giuliani continued: “The attack on London last year, the almost attack [exploding eleven planes over the Atlantic] that was foiled by the intelligence services, the same forces, the same kind of loosely organized group of people that attacked us on Sept. 11 seem to want to continue to attack us. So, we have to remember [Sept. 11] as if it happened yesterday. And we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves against something like that happening again.”
There is no doubt that experience provides the most valuable lessons. Since Giuliani’s experiences on Sept. 11, it’s obvious that he sees America, the world and our security with a keen vision.
But are we taking heed of Giuliani’s words? Five years later, do we really understand the threat we face? Are we willing to stay on offense, and as Giuliani said, “to do everything we can to protect ourselves”?
Or are we still basking in denial, certain that all this unpleasantness will somehow resolve itself?
Kathleen Antrim is the author of “Capital Offense,” and writes for NewsMax Magazine
