Prime Suspect bin Laden against a background
of terror. Image Ó
William Max Miller
September 11'th, 2001
A Day That Will Live In Infamy
The course of world history
changed radically this morning with the unprovoked attack upon New York City and
Washington, D. C., by Middle Eastern terrorists. The philosophy of American
politics and our attitude toward our role in world history must change to meet this
challenge. We must realize that we live in a world where some nations are not
responsible enough to govern the violent elements within their own people, and we must step in and take control in
countries which have demonstrated their evil intent toward the rest of the
free world.
The deaths of 2,400 men of the U. S. Navy on December 7,
1941, compelled Americans to embark on a war against barbarism and tyranny. Do not let the deaths of
thousands of American civilians receive less of a
response. It is time for us to take a decisive and effective stand against
terrorists and the
nations in which terrorist tactics develop and thrive. It is time to excise the
sickness within these cultures which spawns such malignancies. It is time to
abandon the weak attitude which fails to acknowledge that political autonomy is
a right that must be handled responsibly, and which can justifiably be
taken away from those who use the privilege of self government to terrorize the
world.
Today, we witnessed a spectacle of mass murder and senseless
destruction on a catastrophic scale unparalleled in human history. No nation has
ever had greater provocation or more compelling justification for declaring
complete and total war than our great nation. For declaring war on the perpetrators of this crime, and
also on any nation which willingly harbors, conceals, and covertly encourages
such criminals. It is my sincere hope that Americans will unite in their
desire and determination to use every military means at our disposal to
eradicate terrorists and terrorist-condoning nations. Such cancers within the
body of world politics must be excised with the same thoroughness used 60 years
ago to eliminate the tyranny of Nazism, for only then will the world become safe
for future generations.
We have a grim responsibility and an unavoidable task ahead
of us. But Americans have battled great evil before and fought their way through
it back to the light. Once again, destiny is calling upon us to contend with the
darkness. We have the strength to do the job. We have the tools to do the job.
Let us now look within ourselves, remembering the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon, the Somerset jet crash, and the thousands of American dead, and summon the courage to
do the job just as we have done before.
---William Max Miller, American Citizen
September 11'th, 2001
Read the complete text of
President Bush's Address
to Congress
Delivered on September 20'th, 2001
