Reasons to Remember 9-11

[Geee]

TownHall:

The show business publication "Variety" reports "40-plus programs expected to commemorate 10th anniversary of (9-11) attacks." And those are just the specials. They don't include reports within news programs, or overseas TV memorials, which began last month.

How we love our anniversaries. Whether it's "the Maine," "Pearl Harbor" or "9-11" we choose to remember, the question is "Why?" Why remember? To honor the dead? Yes, that is a good reason. How about to remember loved ones and survivors? That, too, is commendable.

All of this, though, is about looking back, not forward. It is only by looking forward that we can avoid, or at least limit, the possibility of another major terrorist attack, which many believe is coming.

On Sept. 12, 2001, I wrote in this space: "The first step -- even before military action is contemplated or taken -- is to expel from this country the people and organizations tied to radical terrorist groups in the Middle East."

That is becoming increasingly difficult to do in large part because terrorism is now rarely centered in one location, or under a single banner. The so-called "lone wolf," operating on his own with no paper trail and who is self-radicalized, remains the biggest challenge for those charged with our security.

Radical Islamists appear to be getting help from other nations that hate us, joining forces with them in what they consider a common goal: the destruction of the United States. According to Italy's respected Corriere della Sera, reported in Investor's Business Daily (IBD), "three Hezbollah terrorists operating out of Mexico have left that country to establish a permanent 'bridgehead' to the communist island, calling their clandestine operation 'The Caribbean Dossier.'"

It sounds like the title of a Cold War spy novel, except this isn't fiction. "Twenty-three other terrorists from the Iran-linked terror group are expected to join the operation," reports IBD, "which has a startup budget of more than $500,000."

Corriere reports, "The mission in Cuba is to provide logistical support for upcoming terrorist attacks planned in this hemisphere." So much for the left's defense of Cuba against charges it is a terrorist state.

Does anyone believe that terrorists won't be smuggled into the U.S. (if they are not already here) to kill more Americans, possibly with weapons of mass destruction?