September 11, 2026
Have We Forgotten, 911 Twenty Five Years Later
The Ideology of Death, cause and effect
Twenty five years have passed since the unthinkable. The symbols of America were attacked killing thousands of innocent Americans. The terrorist attack would ultimately bring down the World Trade Center Towers, destroy part of the Pentagon and crash a plane into the ground in Pennsylvania thanks to the heroic efforts of the passengers averting its likely path for the Capital. A total of 2753 souls perished at the Twin Towers, 189 at the Pentagon and at 40 at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The photos of unparelled death and destruction shocked our nation. How could there be such evil? It was difficult to accept. When the first plane crashed into the North Tower (Tower One), no one believed it was a terror attack. How could it? This could never happened to America. No one would target civilians in a major city. Yet when a second plane struck the South Tower (Tower Two), all doubt disappeared as to whether it was deliberate. The images didn't lie. It was an attack on America and our way of life. It was another date of infamy but this was different. It was not a traditional enemy in the sense of a country or conventional army. It was the work of a violent and evil ideology, radical Islam driven by Jihad. America had warning signs; the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the American Embassy bombings in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole. There were many others. We came together as a nation and fought a war of defense to eradicate the evil ideology that murdered Americans on our soil. The costs were high. 7000 U.S. service members died in combat, 53,000 were wounded and 6000 people died from exposure at Ground Zero. It changed America for ever.
In the aftermath, we promised never to forget. How could you? Seeing the images of the burning towers, people falling to their deaths unable to be rescued, Fire fighters and Police officers running into the buildings never to return and the buildings later collapsing coating lower Manhattan in a coat of thick dust. Looking at a deep hole inside the Pentagon with fire and smoke bellowing out and a large debris field of destruction in an open field in Shanksville. People you loved never returning home. Phone calls from those on the planes saying goodbye and the eerie silence of cars parked at Long Island Railroad commuter parking lots never to be driven home by their owners. Seeing photos of the missing posted by their families at Ground Zero. Work on the pile clearing debris and searching for the missing. The elation of finding two Port Authority Police officers alive under a damaged stairwell and the assurance by President Bush at Ground Zero to hold those responsible to account. His words were clear, "I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!". But the reality over the years has been a sad one. Children losing their parents, growing up to never know them, a daughter never having her father walk her down the aisle, and a son not being able to dance with his mother at his wedding. A parent losing their child never to see them again and have children of their own. The loss of a brother, sister, aunt, uncle, nephew and niece. The cost was devastating.
So the question is simple, have we forgotten? The very reason not to forget is to learn from history, prevent it from happening again and to honor those who perished. Unfortunately, its quite obvious. We have forgotten. The 911 Commission Report was all but ignored. The 19 terrorists who committed 911 violated our immigration laws and were able to obtain identity documents in order to carry out their attack. The Biden Administration allowed millions of illegal aliens to cross our boarders by eliminating or modifying all border and immigration controls. Those that entered were unvetted and tens of thousands entered without detection. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged hundreds who entered had terrorist ties. His administration encouraged it and made Americans pay the bill. Barak Obama created several unlawful programs to allow millions of illegal aliens to stay via Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), and other amnesty efforts. Even President Bush tried to pass a significant amnesty for millions of illegal aliens which was defeated in the Senate. The Real ID Act which standardized requirements for driver's licenses and identification cards finally went into effect on May 7, 2025, almost 24 years after 911. This requirement was delayed for two decades as states resisted the effort. These same states then issued driver licenses to illegal aliens who have used those identity documents to further obtain other forms of identity to burrow more deeply into American society. New York and many other states encouraged open borders and went out of their way to protect criminal illegal aliens from deportation with the enactment of legislation as well as executive action. Governor Hochul recently signed the so called Local Cops, Local Crimes Act which bars local law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to turn over criminal illegal aliens from local jails. Local Sheriff's responded by filing a Federal law suit against the sanctuary law.
The impetus for the attacks was based on radical Islamic Jihadism. Now with that being said, its obvious not all Muslims prescribe to this particular strain of Islam and there are many Islamic countries in the world that reject this radical viewpoint. Out of the 57 Muslim dominant countries, a majority are moderate and the U.S. maintains a close relationship with many such as Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, and Bahrain. While we have strong relationships, one country in particular, Saudi Arabia is tangentially linked to the 911 attacks. Osama Bin Laden and 15 of the 19 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. While the 911 Commission Report concluded that the government of Saudi Arabia nor senior government officials funded Al-Qaeda, many questions were never answered. The Saudi government promoted Wahhabism, a radical form of Islam linked to Osama Bin Laden and provided financial support to spread this ideology throughout the world. While some scholars try to claim Bin Laden deviated from Wahhabism by opposing Saudi leadership and declaring Jihad on his own, he never the less followed this pernicious form of Islam. Getting back to the more moderate form of Islam, significant issues of concern remain. The promotion of Sharia Law, assimilation, the treatment of women, discrimination against other religious groups, and tolerance for violence as well as acts of terrorism. Yet many of our so called leaders have decided to make 911 about so called Islamaphobia and leave out the ideological basis for the attacks. The word phobia from Mirriam-Webster is defined as "an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects or situation". There is nothing exaggerated or illogical to have fear based significant concerns due to historical events, actions, data and most importantly, reality.
In 2024, a poll of U.S. Muslims found nearly 39% support the implementation of Sharia law inside the U.S. Sharia law is incompatible with the constitution and American law. Sharia requires strict adherence to religious moral codes that conflict with liberty. Those who violate Sharia law in countries that practice it are often subject to beatings, lashings, stoning, and even death. While the Koran and Sunah do not mention "honor killing", a practice of a parent killing their child for disobeying Islamic teachings, it is not prohibited. Vaginal mutilation while also not mentioned in the Quran but mentioned in several Hadith do not prohibit the practice in traditional Islam. In terms of assimilation, we need to look no further than Europe. Many European countries have concluded assimilation has failed. Several countries have so called "no go zones" and have significant conflicts over Sharia law. Islamic immigrants in general rely heavily on government assistance programs. Women have less rights then men in many areas of religious law. A husband has a right to strike his wife if his wife fails to obey him. Husbands have more rights to divorce their wives and husbands have the right to have up to four wives. Women who are raped require four witnesses to prove rape. Other religions do not fare well inside majority Muslim countries. Many have to pay a tax, many churches are burned and Christians are murdered with the most recent events centering in Nigeria. The use of violence is more widespread in Islamic countries including death for homosexuals, those who leave Islam and for Infidels. In particular, the Koran and Hadith call for the death of infidels. An example can be found in Sureh 9:5, "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem [of war]; but if they repent, and establish prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.". The battle against radical Islam goes back centuries. America actually fought radical Islam in the 18th century at the shores of Tripoli against the Barbary pirates who enslaves over 1.25 million Europeans.
Even our local elected officials are disingenuous, practice willful deceit and or are in a state of denial. Mayor Zohran Mandami, himself a Muslim and also a communist is radical in many ways. As a Member of the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA), his party calls for ending sanctions on Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism. On the date of the October 7th massacre in Israel, the DSA issued a statement declaring their "steadfast solidarity with Palestine" never mentioning the massacre. The NYC chapter than called for a pro-Palestinian demonstration the next day and chanting, "Globalize the Intifada". Mandami refused to condemn the phrase. The phrase equates to calling for an uprising that includes violence involving suicide attacks, bombings and other terror attacks against Israeli citizens. When Mandami signed his proclamation for the observation of 911, he handed one of the pens to his Police Commissioner who is Jewish and asked her to hand it to his counsel, Ramzi Kaseem who represented al-Qaeda operative, Ahmed al-Darbi who was charged with an act of terrorism and who's sister was married to one of the 911 hijackers. Kaseem has a history of opposing Israel's right to exist and shares many similiar far left views of Mandami. A few days after 911, Kaseem actually stated that the 911 perpetrators "were probably not driven to their actions by some intrinsic evil or inherent hatred of the good United States... Governor Hochul in a tone deaf and politically pandering move, donned a Hajab at a local Queens Mosque days before the twenty-fifth anniversary of 911. During her appearance at a 911 event in Staten Island and in her official statement, no reference was given for the historical basis that motivated the terrorists, radical Islamic Jihadism.
A country that refuses to acknowledge history and the truth of 911 is only deluding itself. We must learn from history in order not to repeat it. The memory of its victims, our veterans and those who responded must never be forgotten. Most Americans never will forget. God Bless America and God Bless those who remember.