What I Would Say to the Victims of the 911 Atrocity

Eleven years have passed since I learned what Islam is, and why I hate it with all my heart:  a bloodthirsty ideology, created by a barbarian, megalomaniac and narcissist who liked to kill people.  He liked killing so much that he commanded his followers to do the same, forever, to people too modern, enlightened and tolerant to follow his ideology of death and darkness.  911 was merely one more atrocity in a long line that began in the 7th century and continues to this day.

However, today we don't focus on the barbarians who carried out the atrocity of September 11, 2001, but on the victims.  I have often thought of what I would say, if I could communicate with the departed souls.  Here it is:

I am sorry that you lost your lives, your futures, just because you went to work one day, or were in the wrong place at the wrong time, through no fault of your own.  It is a great injustice that you were deprived of all your tomorrows, and all the plans, love, dreams and goals that were denied to you.

I am sorry for the immense grief of your family, your friends and everyone else who knew you and loved you.  They did not deserve this ocean of pain that evil visited upon them.

Most of all, I am sorry for the way you died -- in terror and grief and pain.  The horror at finding yourself trapped in a burning building with no escape, knowing you would not see your family again, or even have a chance to say goodbye -- this was possibly worse than death itself.  I am sorry for the souls whose only alternative was to burn to death or jump from high windows.

I can only hope that you have found peace in another world, where your pain and fear and grief have been assuaged, where the horror that visited you eleven years ago today no longer matters.  And I hope that those loved ones left behind have moved beyond the pain and grief, and have resumed their lives in ways that you would applaud and approve.

We who are still here, however, will never forget.