Surprise Attack

It seems like a long time since 9/11/01. It has been seven years and to many people, seven years is a long time.

After thinking about the election and the condition of the economy this morning, I had a chilling thought. What would happen to the US if we were to fall victim to another major terrorist attack akin to 9/11? What would happen if it happened in the next two weeks?

We are a nation that is polarized. Our economy is in bad shape. We are fighting amongst ourselves. People are being laid off. We have a fiercely fought election coming up in less than two weeks. If some extreme terrorist group were to launch a major terrorist attack now, I am not sure how bad things could get. We have a lot of enemies and the enemy loves to kick you when you are down. Wouldn't Ahmadinejad just love to see us stumble again? He believes that the US is in a downward spiral and this would confirm it to him.

Now on the bright side, it is quite possible that the people of this great nation would band together and we would rally to overcome, just like we did after 9/11. There would be a surge of patriotism and people would work together to get this nation back on its feet. We have been through a lot and we can weather a lot. It reminds me of a Charlie Daniel's song, "In America":

Well the eagle's been flying slow and the flag's been flying low
And a lot of people are saying that America's fixing to fall
But speaking just for me and some people from Tennessee
We got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled but she ain't never fell
And if the Russians don't believe that they can all go straight to hell
We're gonna put her feet back on the path of righteousness
And then God bless America again

And you never did think that it ever would happen again
In America, did you?
You never did think that we'd ever get together again
Well we damn sure fooled you
We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America
You never did think that it ever would happen again

From the sound up in Long Island out to San Francisco Bay
And ev'ry thing that's in between them is our home
And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves
But you outside people best leave us alone
Cause we'll all stick together and you can take that to the bank
That's the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks
You just go and lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan
And I think you're gonna finally understand

Of course the Russians are not the same Russians Charlie sang about...today he would probably use "al qaeda" or "bin Laden", but the sentiment is the same.

We are strong.

We are Americans.