9/11, 5 years later

With yet another anniversary of the grim events of Sept. 11th, our nation should ponder what we have accomplished in that time.

The hole in the ground and in the hearts of New Yorkers and Americans goes unfilled. We have yet to break ground on a new building where the twin towers used to stand.

The head of the terrorist organization that executed this act, Osama Bin Laden, has remained free from any bit of justice.

Even other Al Qaeda leaders behind 9/11, such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, though in custody, have not been tried openly in court.

America, the strongest, most powerful nation in the world, has squandered the world's sympathy and made itself into a fool over our virtual pardon of Osama Bin Laden and misguided war in Iraq.

Despite being attacked by religious radicals, America has embraced religious radicalism itself, with Christian radicals holding disproportionate power in our government today. It is as if we are trying to say, our God is better than your Allah, rather than realizing that God and Allah are both charades.

Hopefully, 5 more years from now, in 2011, we will have more to show for ourselves than this meager, bungled response.