U.S. Resolve: Unshattered

On Tuesday, civilization's modern nightmare=20 materialized as terrorists attacked American cities, destroying = national=20 landmarks and exacting a terrible human toll. But even as smoke = billowed=20 across Manhattan and dust settled over Washington, this mighty = nation was=20 shaking off the massive blow.

Buildings collapsed. = Democracy=20 stands.

The tragedy unfolded on live television, offering = the world=20 a lesson in courage and resolve. As terror and chaos advanced, = determined=20 forces stepped forward to restore calm. The treacherous acts of = demented=20 minds led to families shattered, dreams crushed, loves lost--the = unwritten=20 futures canceled by cruelty. Immediately, though, came America's = reaction.=20 Rescuers charged into doomed buildings. Police braved falling = debris to=20 aid the wounded. Reporters sought to sort rumor from fact. Pilots = diverted=20 planes and landed safely.

Evil attacked. The people = withstood the=20 assault.

Those shocking images of smoke and dust come down = to this:=20 A father, gone. A wife. A brother. Gone as utterly as the famous = towers in=20 which they worked. Gone, too, the passengers and airline crews en = route to=20 California and elsewhere.

Nationwide, people swarm blood = banks,=20 eager to have their own blood flow into the veins of those wounded = by an=20 unknown enemy. Let that enemy note that this nation of many = peoples is=20 often at odds within itself but under pressure is united; a blow = against=20 one is a blow against all.

A Watershed in the Lives of = America's=20 Children

For many parents, the most indelible image will = not be of=20 a plane smashing into a building but of children's faces as they = grapple=20 with that image, one that shattered the world they thought they = knew. For=20 a generation of young people, this is their Pearl Harbor; their = Kennedy=20 assassination. Adults surely felt that old fear rising. But across = the=20 country they slung arms around children and shared with them a = wisdom=20 taught by past tragedies. "Yes, you just witnessed evil," they = told the=20 innocents. "But take heart, our world will = survive."

Tuesday's=20 attack struck at the heart of America's original melting pot, the = city=20 where for more than a hundred years people from every culture and = every=20 corner of the world have come seeking refuge, freedom and a better = life.

For millions, the first glimpse they got of this = nation as=20 they entered New York Harbor was the Statue of Liberty holding = aloft her=20 torch as a beacon of tolerance and freedom. These immigrants and = their=20 descendants--of every religion, race and ethnicity--have made the = United=20 States the world's most powerful nation and simultaneously its = most=20 tolerant.

Here in Los Angeles, too, our neighbors are from = every=20 corner of this troubled planet. As we garner strength by joining = together=20 in rage and sorrow, the world will see that the great = experiment-- e=20 pluribus unum --continues. One way it will continue will be = for=20 Americans to refrain from blaming groups for the evil acts of = individuals.=20 There must be no finger-pointing based on ethnicity or religion. = If=20 Americans turn on each other, those behind the heinous acts will = be the=20 winners.

America has been fortunate. Foreign enemies have, = until=20 now, caused little loss of life on our mainland. The bloodshed of = the War=20 for Independence paved the way for the establishment of a new = nation. The=20 traumatic mayhem of the Civil War was self-inflicted. One of the = hallmarks=20 of World War II was that, with the exception of the Pearl Harbor = attack,=20 the United States didn't live through the bitter experience of the = warring=20 European nations. For the United States, battles happened = somewhere=20 else.

Never again can this nation be quite so secure. = Tuesday was a=20 day that changed America. Just as national reorientations were = required=20 after the sinking in 1915 of the ocean liner Lusitania and after = Pearl=20 Harbor, Tuesday's attack will also change this nation.

The = United=20 States' resilience stems in part from the nation's ability to = adapt. We=20 will question what more could have been done to protect our = people. We=20 will hold accountable any who fell short in their duties. Yes, we = wonder=20 how airport safety shields could be so porous, how we could have = had so=20 little inkling of what was to come.

Terrorism has been a = domestic=20 threat for years, and yet the last FBI director identified it when = he left=20 his post as a critical concern that is still unsatisfactorily=20 addressed.

For the moment, however, Americans are unified, = looking=20 forward. The nation could be confident that it would rebuild even = as the=20 first terrorist fires raged.

Already leaders promise that=20 government agencies, which had to be evacuated, will reopen for = essential=20 business and that financial markets will resume doing business = calmly.=20 This is a tall order, but one that must be fulfilled.

The = President=20 Must Rise to His Greatest Challenge

When we inaugurate = presidents,=20 we ask them to support and defend the Constitution against all = enemies=20 foreign and domestic. President Bush is undergoing his toughest = test and=20 must rise to it. He made a good first step Tuesday evening when, = back in=20 Washington, he addressed the nation. He said: "These acts of mass = murder=20 were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But = they have=20 failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to = defend a=20 great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our = biggest=20 buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These = acts=20 shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American=20 resolve."

Bush also identified the day's clearest heroes. = "Today,=20 our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we = responded with=20 the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with = the=20 caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help = in any=20 way they could." That includes the many firefighters in New York = who=20 perished in brave attempts to save lives.

America will = react, but=20 it must do so with certainty, not guesswork, and the resolve that = goes=20 with confidence. The nation's leaders will determine who is = responsible=20 and do whatever is necessary to make sure the threat is removed. = Bush=20 importantly vowed to find and punish not just the terrorists but = their=20 backers. The decision he and Congress have to face is whether the = U.S.=20 reaction will, as in previous terrorist attacks, concentrate on = legal=20 remedies or on military retaliation or some combination. In the = case of=20 Pan Am Flight 103, was it true justice only to bring two Libyans = to=20 court?

There will be speculations and cynicism, = denunciations and=20 denials, revelations and ruminations, accusations and anger all = over this=20 land in coming days. But out of this nationwide emotional = incoherence must=20 come--will come--that democratic resolve so familiar to Americans = and=20 their friends--and so ominous to this nation's enemies. =