<HTML>I received this from a friend. As with Jim, I will let= this be my final contribution to our discussion about the tragedy. In retro= spect, I think discussing this has been very helpful for me, as I hope it ha= s been for all of you, to vent my anger, to show my respect, to express my c= oncern, and to bear my sorrows. I will NEVER forget this day, but I, as do y= ou, have to go on with my life. Peace, Hope, Prayer, and Love.   Wim <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Subject: WE AMERICAN= S Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001 WE’LL GO FORWARD FROM THIS MOMENT<= FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SCRIPT" FACE="Comic Sans MS" LA= NG="0"> by Leonard Pitts It's my job to have something to say. They pay = me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American= soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving= eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, mu= st be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering. You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. </B= >What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World T= rade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was,<= I> please know that you failed.  Did you want us to r= espect your cause?  You just damned your cause. Did you want to = make us fear?  You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tea= r us apart? You just brought us together. Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quar= relsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class divisio= n, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending trem= endous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dre= ss, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability o= f trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through li= fe with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, = though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thin= g and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith= , believers in a just and loving God. Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of= this makes usweak. You're mistaken. We are not weak.  Indeed, we are s= trong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals. IN PAIN Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we a= re in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you= did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special e= ffect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom= Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and = the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the wor= st acts of terrorismin the history of the United States and, probably, the h= istory of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied befor= e.  But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and makin= g us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last= time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt a= nd monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible = in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suf= fering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.<FO= NT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SCRIPT" FACE="Comic Sans MS" LANG= ="0"> I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know m= y people, as you,I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes m= e to tremble with dread of the future. In the days to come, there will be recrimination and ac= cusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen= and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heig= htened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward= from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. unimaginably= determined. THE STEEL IN US You see, the steel in us is not always readily appa= rent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't = know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold. As America= ns we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise = in defense of all that we cherish. So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? &nbs= p;It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your h= atred.   If that's the case, consider the message received.  = And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't= know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started. But you'r= e about to learn. (This was written by Miami-Herald Columnist Leonard Pitts<= /I>, an African American) </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>