U.S. Resolve: Unshattered

On Tuesday, civilization’s modern nightmare materialized as terrorists attacked American cities, destroying national landmarks and exacting a terrible human toll. But even as smoke billowed across Manhattan and dust settled over Washington, this mighty nation was shaking off the massive blow.

Buildings collapsed. Democracy stands.

The tragedy unfolded on live television, offering the world a lesson in courage and resolve. As terror and chaos advanced, determined forces stepped forward to restore calm.

The treacherous acts of demented minds led to families shattered, dreams crushed, loves lost--the unwritten futures canceled by cruelty. Immediately, though, came America’s reaction. Rescuers charged into doomed buildings. Police braved falling debris to aid the wounded. Reporters sought to sort rumor from fact. Pilots diverted planes and landed safely.

Evil attacked. The people withstood the assault.

Those shocking images of smoke and dust come down to this: A father, gone. A wife. A brother. Gone as utterly as the famous towers in which they worked. Gone, too, the passengers and airline crews en route to California and elsewhere.

Nationwide, people swarm blood banks, eager to have their own blood flow into the veins of those wounded by an unknown enemy. Let that enemy note that this nation of many peoples is often at odds within itself but under pressure is united; a blow against one is a blow against all.

A Watershed in the Lives of America’s Children

For many parents, the most indelible image will not be of a plane smashing into a building but of children’s faces as they grapple with that image, one that shattered the world they thought they knew. For a generation of young people, this is their Pearl Harbor; their Kennedy assassination. Adults surely felt that old fear rising. But across the country they slung arms around children and shared with them a wisdom taught by past tragedies. “Yes, you just witnessed evil,” they told the innocents. “But take heart, our world will survive.”

Tuesday’s attack struck at the heart of America’s original melting pot, the city where for more than a hundred years people from every culture and every corner of the world have come seeking refuge, freedom and a better life.

For millions, the first glimpse they got of this nation as they entered New York Harbor was the Statue of Liberty holding aloft her torch as a beacon of tolerance and freedom. These immigrants and their descendants--of every religion, race and ethnicity--have made the United States the world’s most powerful nation and simultaneously its most tolerant.

Here in Los Angeles, too, our neighbors are from every corner of this troubled planet. As we garner strength by joining together in rage and sorrow, the world will see that the great experiment-- e pluribus unum --continues. One way it will continue will be for Americans to refrain from blaming groups for the evil acts of individuals. There must be no finger-pointing based on ethnicity or religion. If Americans turn on each other, those behind the heinous acts will be the winners.

America has been fortunate. Foreign enemies have, until now, caused little loss of life on our mainland. The bloodshed of the War for Independence paved the way for the establishment of a new nation. The traumatic mayhem of the Civil War was self-inflicted. One of the hallmarks of World War II was that, with the exception of the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States didn’t live through the bitter experience of the warring European nations. For the United States, battles happened somewhere else.

Never again can this nation be quite so secure. Tuesday was a day that changed America. Just as national reorientations were required after the sinking in 1915 of the ocean liner Lusitania and after Pearl Harbor, Tuesday’s attack will also change this nation.

The United States’ resilience stems in part from the nation’s ability to adapt. We will question what more could have been done to protect our people. We will hold accountable any who fell short in their duties. Yes, we wonder how airport safety shields could be so porous, how we could have had so little inkling of what was to come.

Terrorism has been a domestic threat for years, and yet the last FBI director identified it when he left his post as a critical concern that is still unsatisfactorily addressed.

For the moment, however, Americans are unified, looking forward. The nation could be confident that it would rebuild even as the first terrorist fires raged.

Already leaders promise that government agencies, which had to be evacuated, will reopen for essential business and that financial markets will resume doing business calmly. This is a tall order, but one that must be fulfilled.

The President Must Rise to His Greatest Challenge

When we inaugurate presidents, we ask them to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. President Bush is undergoing his toughest test and must rise to it. He made a good first step Tuesday evening when, back in Washington, he addressed the nation. He said: “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”

Bush also identified the day’s clearest heroes. “Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.” That includes the many firefighters in New York who perished in brave attempts to save lives.

America will react, but it must do so with certainty, not guesswork, and the resolve that goes with confidence. The nation’s leaders will determine who is responsible and do whatever is necessary to make sure the threat is removed. Bush importantly vowed to find and punish not just the terrorists but their backers. The decision he and Congress have to face is whether the U.S. reaction will, as in previous terrorist attacks, concentrate on legal remedies or on military retaliation or some combination. In the case of Pan Am Flight 103, was it true justice only to bring two Libyans to court?

There will be speculations and cynicism, denunciations and denials, revelations and ruminations, accusations and anger all over this land in coming days. But out of this nationwide emotional incoherence must come--will come--that democratic resolve so familiar to Americans and their friends--and so ominous to this nation’s enemies.