It is hard to believe today marks the 15-year anniversary since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was a teachable moment in a specific point in time when America’s view of the world changed dramatically, and perhaps permanently. The 9/11 attacks, were a pivotal moment in modern history and they represent the most lethal attack against the United States by a hostile foreign force since Pearl Harbor. Today, September 11, 2001 continues to impact the entire world and our lives in so many ways. 

Nearly, 3000 people lost their lives that day and their loved ones continue to mourn them. Tens of thousands of soldiers worldwide have lost their lives in the War on Terror. Well over a hundred thousand civilians have been killed in the conflict spawned by the 9/11 attacks and well over a million people have been injured or had their lives uprooted in countries around the globe where there is armed conflict and instability linked to 9/11.

We are still looking back and remembering what happened tragically on that day and why it happened. Many still are having a hard time understanding the scope of those violent assaults on American soil. In the aftermath, people started asking questions: who are these people and what is it that drives them to want to commit mass murder and in the process, taking their own lives? What is the driving force behind this violent ideology?

The tragic and catastrophic events of September 11, 2001 have affected many of us enormously. Some felt the temptation to cry out loud and run to the end of the world and say their prayers with a heavy heart. Many felt like crying for the overflowing flood of human blood and innocent moans of the victims’ families. People felt apprehensive, anxious, fearful and in stunned disbelief at the magnitude of the human devastation.

During the events of September 11th, 2001, Americans stood still and watched the most dreadful events unfolding right in front of their eyes. They were very traumatized by the sequence of events that led to this calamity. Many bystanders told reporters of how they saw body parts of those who had flung themselves out of the WTC to avoid the flames. Americans watched, prayed and hoped, searching for an answer, a comfort and strength to pass those tumultuous moments. September 11th, 2001 proved, unlike anything else in recent American history, that everyday people do extraordinarily caring things.

September 11th was the day that ordinary people became heroes. Heroes appear in the face of unparalleled challenges and circumstances when ordinary people take spontaneous action in the face of imminent threat to their own lives. Heroes are those extraordinary people who make sacrifices and become agents of historical and social change. Indisputably, other heroes of 9/11 were the firefighters, police, and emergency and rescue workers, who completed their duties with infinite bravery. Their heroism rests upon a selfless commitment to all mankind.

After 9/11, the U.S. government took many steps in an attempt to make the country safer, including strengthened security at airports and in public buildings. A new cabinet-level department, the Department of Homeland Security (an unmanageable and monstrous bureaucracy), was created. The DHS original intention was to protect the United States from terrorism, but more than a decade after its creation, the Department of Homeland Security continues to push against a mixed record of accomplishments and setbacks, and a mission that many experts profess is still hard to pin down.

On another front, we must confront Islamism (the political nature of Islam), because if we don’t, it will continue to get far more extreme. This is not Islamophobia, as many Muslims and their liberal apologists protest. A phobia is a baseless irrational fear. Detestation of Islamism, the violent form of Islam, is based on irrefutable facts and it is not only rational, it is ethically imperative.

America cannot afford to continue down this current path of appeasement, hoping that Islam issues will simply go away by themselves. The breach of “Fortress America” from the air on 9/11 was only the first installment of many more forthcoming heinous assaults, about which wehave been repeatedly warned by devout Muslims.  Unless we abandon our way of thinking, we will suffer the consequences of a dangerous complacency. The best and most rational way of dealing with this violent ideology that promotes terror, hate and mayhem is through effective immigration policy and education that encourages tolerance, religious freedom and goodwill to all.

In short, all such purveyors of animosity toward our tolerant Western values must be required and refrain from preaching messages of hate and violence anywhere within our beloved country, or face immediate removal and deportation on the basis that such teachings represent calls for physical violence against American citizens – and as such, they represent enemies in our midst – no different from hostile saboteurs of the most recent past.

As we recall September 11, 2001, we need to keep in mind that we were attacked not for what we do wrong but for what we do right. On this day, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families and the victims of this tragedy and I condemn, in the strongest terms, the new coalition of stealth and civilizational jihad, infringing upon the United States, its institutions and the Constitution under the banner of multiculturalism.