The Sixth Anniversary

I wasn't going to write about Sept. 11th today, but then I read an article about the memorial services in New York, which ended with this:

"In all, 2,974 victims were killed by the Sept. 11 attacks: 2,750 connected to the World Trade Center, 40 in Pennsylvania and 184 at the Pentagon. Those numbers do not include the 19 hijackers."

I was struck by my reaction to the last line--it feels so cold, so angry. I probably don't have the right to say that, since everyone I know and love is safe. But I feel that those men should be counted--they died convinced of the evilness of the Western world and America in particular, and to forget them is to forget those like them who are also convinced America is evil. To turn our backs on them or treat them like some kind of aberration will only breed more hatred and distrust. If learning and accepting other cultures was hard before, doing it now is almost impossible after these men took nearly three thousand of our countrymen with them. But that's why it's more important than ever. Never forget--we will never forget--but we must remember also the reasons why.