I sat in a movie theatre watching "Schindler's List," and asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" I sat in a movie theatre watching "Pearl Harbor," and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?"
Now I know why.
Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil people.
On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively rejected the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others.
Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators...
I will not be manipulated. I will not pretend to understand. I will not forget.
I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.
I will not forget that CBS news anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president."
And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't likely--nor should they be expected--to show deference."
I will not forget the attack on the USS Cole...
I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration.
I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly, "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.
I will not be influenced by so called, "anti-war demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant anti-American obscenities.
I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines.
I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.
I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told the Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?
There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice; defeat it or be defeated. And defeat it we must!"
I will force myself to:
I sat in a movie theatre, watching "Saving Private Ryan," and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?"
Now I know.
We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.
Constructed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the early 1970s, the World Trade Center towers were, for their time, the best known examples of tube buildings. Tube buildings are strengthened by closely spaced columns and beams in the outer walls. 
The closely spaced columns and beams in each tower form a steel tube that, together with an internal core, withstand the tremendous wind loads that affect buildings this tall.
Aside from withstanding enormous wind loads, the World Trade Center towers were also constructed to withstand settlement loads. Because the towers were built on six acres of landfill, the foundation of each tower had to extend more than 70 feet below ground level to rest on solid bedrock.
The two towers were unable to survive the effects of a direct hit by two hijacked commercial jetliners during terrorist attacks on the morning of September 11, 2001. Although they were in fact designed to withstand being struck by an airplane, the resultant fires weakened the infrastructure of the building, collapsing the upper floors and creating too much load for the lower floors to bear. Shortly after the attack, both towers collapsed.
You can explore a comprehensive site on why the Twin Towers fell, including interviews with an engineer, a survivor, an interactive explanation of how metal behaves when heated, and much more, at pbs.org.
At the time of their completion in 1973, the World Trade Center towers were the two tallest buildings in the world. Two years later, the Sears Tower in Chicago seized the coveted title.
The design of the World Trade Center saved thousands of lives by standing for well over an hour after the planes crashed into its twin towers, say structural engineers.
But the towers' ultimate collapse was inevitable, as the steel cores inside them reached temperatures of 800C - raising questions as to why hundreds of rescue workers were sent into the doomed buildings to their deaths.
The steel and concrete structures performed amazingly well, said John Knapton, professor in structural engineering at Newcastle University, UK.
"I believe tens of thousands of lives have been saved by the structural integrity of the buildings," he told BBC News Online.
"They had a lot of their structure taken out, yet they remained intact for more than an hour, allowing thousands to escape."
But as fires raged in the towers, driven by aviation fuel, the steel cores in each building would have eventually reached 800C - hot enough to start buckling and collapsing.
The protective concrete cladding on the cores would have been no permanent defence in these extraordinary circumstances - keeping the intense heat at bay for only a limited timespan.
"It was the fire that killed the buildings. There's nothing on earth that could survive those temperatures with that amount of fuel burning," said structural engineer Chris Wise.
"The columns would have melted, the floors would have melted and eventually they would have collapsed one on top of each other."
The buildings' construction manager, Hyman Brown, agreed that nothing could have saved them from the inferno.
"The buildings would have stood had a plane or a force caused by a plane smashed into it," he said.
In this national tragedy, as they have in others, Americans are showing a profound readiness to work cooperatively to heal the wounds. Accounts from New York, and from Washington, tell of individuals going to extraordinary lengths to help others.
Two men in New York carried a woman in a wheelchair down some 63 floors to safety. Many opened their homes to the stranded.
People distant from the East Coast scenes of disaster are reaching out in whatever ways they can to comfort the bereaved, donate services or blood, and embrace their fellow citizens in prayers for protection and comfort.
Indeed, thousands are now holding to words such as these from Psalms in the Bible: "Be merciful unto me, O God, ... in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast."
The need for calm and civility will only grow in the next few days. The comforting of grieving families will be paramount. Those doing the grueling work of cleaning up, finding victims, and rebuilding will need added support. Also crucial: Anger at these events must not turn toward threats against Americans who share an ethnic or religious background with suspected terrorists.
The role of political leaders is essential at this time, setting a standard for civility and courage that others can follow. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York made a telling point when he noted that while his city had lost a physical symbol of its vitality, the real symbol of New York was the spirit of its amazingly diverse people.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "This is not a battle between the United States of America and terrorism, but between the free and democratic world and terrorism."
If the horrible events of this week serve to spark a wider spirit of community, reaching out in solidarity with freedom- and peace-loving people everywhere, America's ability to be a force for good in the world can only increase.
