For the last almost 36 hours now, I, like so many others, have gone through disbelief, shock, sadness, anger, confusion and fear. I've been trying to sort out my thoughts for this time. When I first saw it when my mother woke me up yesterday morning to show it to me, I questioned whether I was actually awake for a split-second. For a while I was totally shocked and didn't know what to think for a while. Then when the streets of Palestine was shown with the celebrating, I was sickened, and enraged. To think someone could be happy about something like this.

Later was confused, when I saw that there were actually people in the world, even on this very message board, that were saying "Well, what do you expect? America does this and that. They deserve it." Confused and again enraged, it made me ponder my country's way of doing things, "why are there so many that think we purposefully kill innocent people." Also, I felt fear. What if this turned into World War III? What if the unlikely but still slightly possible draft came again? What if I and many other men my age were sent over there to fight the battles? What if my friends already serving in the Army and National Guard are mobilized and sent there to fight?

Then upon talking to my parents and friends about it, and doing some reading on the internet and in newspapers, I've realized that I never should have doubted my country.

People say we bomb innocent countries for no reason whatsoever; we would never ever bomb a country that didn't deserve it. People say we kill innocent people to try and prove a point; in countries where the people are so barbaric as to fight in urban areas near civilians, and actually keep women and children near thinking we won't fire back at them, you can expect collateral damage. This is not a country putting the World Trade Center in front of a military base hoping they won't attack us because the WTC was in the way, this is pure murder. Someone said we bombed Yugoslavia for no reason; they were killing their own people. There are such great evils and attacks on the freedom of others in these countries, the US is not going to sit back and let them fight it out.

Countries have national disasters like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, who is first on their doorstep to help out? The United States. When the US has a disaster like the that, who comes to help us? We are always left to fix our own problems. After WWII, France had been devastated by the battles fought there, only a tyrannous country would leave it battle-scarred and poor. America rebuilt the countries, loaning out millions upon billions of dollars.

The US has become the guardian of the world, simply because we're the only country capable of having that role. Any country, any person, that thinks that this is something we brought on ourselves, is just as evil and ungrateful as those that are responsible. If you think that America should just change theirs policies, and chalk this one up as a loss and move on, take a minute to think about what you're saying.

A small hypothetical: France wouldn't let us fly through their airspace during the Persian Gulf situation. Let's say for instance that this attack actually crippled America, and we couldn't defend ourselves, and we were invaded and overtaken by this terrorist force. Let's say they decided to invade France next. What are they going to do without America to defend them? Are you going to talk down a militant extremist force that won't sleep until your citizens are dead and your country belongs to them? You're not, it isn't possible to do. These aren't people to negotiate with. (note: France is just an example here, almost any other country could fit in this hypothetical, I'm not lashing out at France or any French person)

Some think we brought it on ourselves; the only thing we've been doing in these countries is thwarting evil plans to commit genocide, invade countries, violate freedoms. We don't bomb World Trade Centers. We don't kill innocent people that aren't put there as a human shield by the cowardly forces of that portion of the world. I do not apologize for anything the US has done, and I hope no one in this country does. This isn't simply an 'egotistic Westerner' talking, this is a citizen of a country that's been stabbed in the back by a truly "faceless coward" and will not watch as others say we deserved it.

Stop choosing to see one side of the events, and stop thinking that we commit acts of terrorism rather than fight for freedom. I'm not saying that the people that are innocent that die in battles in those countries shouldn't be mourned, they're innocent people, but when cowardly terrorist groups choose to hide behind them and get angry when the people die, we are no longer the ones responsible for their deaths.

This attack wasn't aimed at a military target, as Pearl Harbor was and as our attacks on those third world countries was. This was not a military target in which we threw civilians in the way to protect our government figures. It was pure and simple, cold-blooded murder, and an attack on everything that was good and just in this planet. Not just America, but the whole free world. And whoever is responsible, deserves to feel the wrath of this country and others.

They have called down the thunder, and now they will reap the whirlwind. But first, people are dying and mourning this unimaginable loss. Stop pouring salt in the wound by claiming we brought such an evil attack on ourselves, and if you don't have any kind words for these people in the darkest days of their lives, please keep your mouths shut.