Until Sept. 11, 2001, no enemy had been able to set foot in the continental United States and do real harm since the British burned Washington D.C. in the War of 1812.
The destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon that morning was a wake-up call for Americans. It was a message loud and clear that what happens in the rest of the world affects us here.
Like Pearl Harbor before it, 9/11 woke us from an isolationist nap. Our reaction was to improve our security at home and track down those responsible abroad.
Within a month of the attack, the militaries of the U.S. and United Kingdom invaded Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden and to break al-Qaida in Operation Enduring Freedom, which is still going on today.
Recent increases in American troops in Afghanistan were part of plans for a surge implemented by President Bush and continued by President Obama.
But even now there are people who feel the need to use the wars as a political means to an end.
That's unfortunate, because we still have commitments both in Afghanistan and Iraq. The vows to complete our tasks in both countries are written in the blood of our soldiers, and must be honored.
Much of the history of the response to 9/11 has been politicized, dividing into red and blue what was, for a bright shining moment of unity, under the red, white and blue.
