Antwort
Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001 The Miami Herald
"We%27ll go forward from this moment.
It is 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 bastard. What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward%27s 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 damned 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%27re frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae- a singer%27s revealing dress, a ball team%27s misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We%27re wealthy, too, 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%27re mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.
Yes we%27re in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We%27re still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn%27t a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn%27t the PLO 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%27ve bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But there%27s a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. [...]
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%27ll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.
You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don%27t know us well. On this day, the family%27s 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 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%27s the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don%27t know my people. You don%27t know what we%27re capable of. You don%27t know what you just started.
But you%27re about to learn."
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