Two years. . . . if you’re looking for a remembrance of the day, you can start with my column written two days later, and Jeff Jarvis’ account, and then you can head on over to Michele Catalano’s Voices project for more individual narratives.
Two years . . . the good news is, I’m still here, and so are you — and so are more Americans than we’d dreamed. The visible parts of the war on terror have been a success: no major attacks in the U.S. (the biggest ones being freelance operations like the DC snipers and the LA airport shooter), and really only one large-scale attack (in Bali) outside of what we would think of as ‘hotspots’ like Israel, Iraq and the Chechen war with Russia. (The hotspots are part of the war too, but they are more expected forms of trouble). Two regimes toppled that were part of the problem, and major efforts underway to remake those countries in a more positive direction. Numerous bad guys killed or captured, including several who are believed to be key figures.
There is yet more to be done, and there are ways in which the hidden part of the war — the plots against us, the movement of dangerous weapons — could be going badly and we might not know it for years. But there’s more time to plan and to celebrate victory. Today, just remembering where we were, and being thankful for where we have not yet gone, is enough.