I think this says well what many of us feel but cannot so eloquently say.

Leonard Pitts Column From the Miami Herald
> > Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001
> >
> > We'll go forward from this moment. It's my job to have something
> > To say. They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that
which
> > troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock
when
> > hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to
say, the
> > only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown
author of
>this
> > suffering.
> >
> > You monster. You beast. You unspeakable ba**ard. What lesson
> > did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade
> > Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn?
> > Whatever it was, please know that you failed. Did you want us to
respect
> > your cause? You just dam*ed your cause. Did you want to make us
fear?
You
> > just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You
just
>brought
> > us together.
> >
> > Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome
family, a
> > family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a
family
> > nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous
> > emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing
dress,
> > a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy. Spoiled
by
> > the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe
because
>of
> > that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe
entitlement.
> > We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and
compassionate.
We
> > struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the
>overwhelming
> > majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving
God.
> >
> > Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes
> > us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong
in
> > ways that cannot be measured by arsenals. IN PAIN? Yes, we're in
pain
>now.
> > We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with
the
> > unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make
ourselves
> > understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood
> > blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.
Both
> > in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable
final
death
> > toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of
terrorism
in
> > the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the
world.
> > You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.
> >
> > But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and
making
> > us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow
the
> > last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us
such
> > abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our
outrage,
> > terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we
> > will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the
pursuit
of
> > justice. I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my
people,
> > as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes
me to
> > tremble with dread of the future.
> >
> > In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation,
> > fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen
and
> > what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be
> > heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms.
We'll
go
> > forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined,
too.
> > Unimaginably determined. THE STEEL IN US. You see, the steel in
us is
>not
> > always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom
>understood
> > by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's
bickering is
>put
> > on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and
as
> > Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
> >
> > So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me
that
> > maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If
that's
> > the case, consider the message received. And take this message in
>exchange:
> >
> > You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You
> > don't know what you just started.
> >
> > But you're about to learn.