A new Chapter:

Tuesday-May 3, 2011

A new Chapter:

I have been thinking long and hard about the events that unfolded Sunday night and throughout yesterday, with regard to Bin Laden’s death. I will give the president credit where credit is due. The job that had to be done was done and it happened on his watch.

Today, I realized that the first chapter in the war on terror is now complete in my book. I watched the events of 9/11 unfold from the beginning of those horrific events ten years ago. I heard for the first time the name of Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. I watched with horror when the second plane hit the World Trade Center, after the first was reported. I watched when the Pentagon was hit and when the fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. I watched this history live on TV and I wondered how those events would affect the people of this nation. I watched the end of the first chapter on Sunday night, when I switched to the FOX news channel at 10:00 pm and heard for the first time that the president was going to address the nation. I watched history unfold again!

For me these last ten years have been consumed with finding out every detail in the news every day. My days have been consumed with listening and hearing the stories that were reported on the news. I have seen one presidency consumed by a war that it did not ask for. I have seen that presidency set the plans and policy in motion that the current president used to bring the chapter of Bin Laden to a conclusion this past weekend.

My first thoughts upon hearing of the news of Bin Laden’s death were consumed by the innocent souls that were lost at the hands of the devil himself. I knew people who lost friends and relatives on that day and I am grateful that it didn’t touch me with personal loss. I guess that I was one of the lucky ones that were looking in from the outside.

I am also just one of the millions of Americans that have been affected by this war and the repercussions of how that one man by the name of Bin Laden changed the way we live and view our own existence.

I wrote yesterday that there are many lessons that we must now learn from the past ten years. The first lesson we must learn is that the friends we thought we had just might not be the friends we thought they were. The world has changed and the way we deal with that world is something we must now embrace for our own survival.

We must learn that nationalism and patriotism is part of the fabric that can unite and that can destroy. We must look to the uniting threads of that fabric so that we are able to move ahead and write the second chapter on this war so that the continuing chapters are written about a successful America.

I am a bit more positive today about how the events over the weekend played out, because that huge sigh of relief has been experienced and herd by a nation that wanted its just reward. Our nation has demonstrated to the world that we can preserver and that no matter how long it takes we do get our just reward!

Our problems domestically are another story. The problems we face will once again be met with partisan debate that will send us to our respectful corners. However, before I go back to the corner, I am enjoying the sights of millions around the world who, as I wrote yesterday, has taken that sigh of relief and enjoyed what a good breath of fresh air can do for the mind, the spirit and the soul. These are the things that bring people together and these are the things that can bring a permanent change to the face of a nation that has been united again for a few brief moments.

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: As we move towards the ten year mark of the anniversary of 9/11, we must remember the day and we must never forget how one man could change millions of lives. A new chapter can now be written. Let’s make sure the title is one that we choose.