Bomb in Times Square

Somebody bombed the military recruiting center in Times Square closing down the hub of traffic for hours. What is this world coming to. I wonder what it would have felt like had I still been in NY when this happened. I lived there up until a year ago and used to work close to Times Square. Luckily it was a small bomb set off at a time when no one would have been there, sent more as a message than a means of death. Makes you wonder if it was some anti-war protester instead of a terrorist. No matter how you feel about the war it is not right to take that out on our troops or our military. The men and women of the military fight to keep our country safe but they don't choose where they go. They go where they are sent and they risk their lives to keep those of us here at home safe.

This is a scary world we live in where violence is used to send messages. We have been lulled into complacence because no major events have taken place since 9/11. I remember how I felt that day, living in Chicago on the 10th floor of a building, not allowed into my room because tall buildings were being kept empty in all major cities. It was a warm day and I was sitting in the plaza of my college wondering how this could happen. Then we thought 6,000 had died. Even the 3,000 that did was a huge number. Innocent people who did nothing but go to work early.

My shock over 9/11 was overshadowed by the death of my beloved grandmother the next day but I remember my grief when I visited Ground Zero a month after the attack and debris was still in the air. I often wonder how many attacks have been avoided. When something is prevented you can't know the devastation that was avoided. I often wonder what the world would be like if the Treaty of Versailles had been more closely followed and Hitler had never come to power. We would never have know the brutality that we averted. Just like we won't ever know if Saddam Hussein could have done more damage than he did. We know that he would use awful methods of genocide and death. We know he was an awful man. Looking back, perhaps the price was not worth the outcome but we will never know. We know the pain of seeing our soldiers die, the frustration of being stuck in Iraq. I support McCain because I know he will do everything he can to bring us home in a victorious and responsible manor. He won't bring the soldiers home to be popular or win votes. I don't like that we're there but I know we need to be cautious in how we get out.

My thoughts go out to those in NYC and the fear they must be feeling today.