There are some events that occur in the history of the world that one should forgive and move on, and others that should remain indelibly etched in our memories, so that we never forget. Events so horrific that keeping the memory of those horrors alive is, hopefully, a reminder that there is true evil in this world that needs to be eradicated. 9/11 is one of those events.

8 years ago we witnessed an evil act perpetrated by religious zealots who decided to hijack some planes and kill as many people possible, all in the name of their God. Over 3,000 innocent people died as a result of their actions on that fateful day, and the count keeps growing. Yes, there were those who were murdered on that day- those in the planes and in the buildings that were targeted, but there are also those who have died since then from diseases related to breathing in the toxic dust, like Leon Heyward. And how many more will die?

Though the passage of time makes it easy for people to forget, we must never forget what happened that day. No-one should ever have to make the choice between jumping out of a building or burning to death, or sacrifice one’s own life to save others by forcing terrorists to down a plane.

What transpired that fateful Tuesday was a a deliberate act of aggression against the U.S. and whilst most of the world reacted in shock and horror, and mourned the loss of so many lives, there were those who actually celebrated the massacre. The Palestinians rejoiced in the blood that was shed that day, dancing and celebrating in the streets.

To this day, there are still those who believe the U.S. deserved it, even though the victims were innocent civilians, many of whom weren’t even U.S. citizens.

As time flows by, we become more complacent, and the potential threat of another attack becomes more probable. Rather than being proactive we have become less vigilant, more politically correct, unwilling to offend those who have vowed to do us harm. Our current administration no longer calls it “The Global War on Terror”, and terrorists suddenly have rights and our CIA agents are threatened with being prosecuted.

President Barack Obama foolishly thinks he can negotiate with terrorists and religious extremists like the Taliban. That kind of naive thinking is terribly dangerous. You can’t reason with fundamentalists of any religion, especially those willing to take your life along with their own. Or those who have no compunction whatsoever killing those of their own religion.

We must never forget!

As George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!”