[Published in Burlington Free Press (9/15/2004) and Addison Eagle (9/16/2004)]
“We just didn’t realize how happy we were before the terrorists came,” these the words uttered by survivors of the horrible, unprecedented terrorist assault on Russia. These, too, were the words uttered by many Americans on September 11, 2001. This time, innocent children were the prime targets. This time, the innocent children’s families and teachers were the collateral victims. Russia has just experienced it’s own 9/11.
President Putin is under the close view of the world in terms of how he responds — how well he convinces the Russian electorate to trust the state. This, on the heels of the recent end of free transportation and free prescription drugs to Russian citizens. Will Russians spend the next three years debating the best way to respond, as many Americans apparently would have preferred, after its own 9/11? Will their response to terrorism reflect converging socio-political agendas? Will it spawn a cottage industry for documentarians begging to be relevant?
The world is starting to truly experience what we, Americans, have gone through. We can only offer prayers that 9/11, both here and abroad, will be emblematic of the beginning of the end of terrorism where it can, one day, be relegated to a sobering chapter in history books dedicated to the enlightenment of every innocent child.
