Today, people across the country will stop and take a minute or two to remember and reflect on the horrific events that unfolded 12 years ago today, on Sept. 11, 2001.
That is, of course, the day terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft, crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Thanks to the heroic actions of passengers aboard the fourth plane, it never reached its intended target.
While the emotions that images of the collapsing Twin Towers brings about are still raw for many, there has been a definite shift in American sentiment in the 12 years that have passed since that earth-shaking day.
In the period immediately following the attacks, Americans wanted to punish those responsible and do whatever possible to prevent such an attack in the future. Americans even got behind an invasion of Iraq, despite there being no evidence any of the hijackers had ties there. Now, 12 years later, the American president is once again beating the war drum, trying to rally support for a strike against Syria and its leader, Bashar al-Assad.
But after 12 years of combat with little to show for it and an economy at home that continues to struggle, President Barack Obama is having a hard time convincing the weary American public that military strikes are the way to go. After all, what exactly does the America have to gain by executing such a strike? In the minds of many, it would only cause more civilian death, and even if a calculated strike did depose the current regime, recent history has shown that they may be replaced by something far more dangerous to our national interest. Americans have also grown weary of playing world policeman, the only realistic argument given for such a strike.
So while what has taken place in Syria recently is undeniably tragic, Obama and other national leaders may have to come up with better justifications for yet another military strike if they wish to truly represent the electorate.