PhillyDailyNews

Opinion

NOW, IT'S OUR TURN: REVENGE.

Hold on to that thought.

Go to bed thinking it. Wake up chanting it.

Because nothing less than revenge is called for today.

Give this to our enemies: it was a brilliant, coordinated attack. The targets were icons of America's might: the World Trade Center, which sits in the financial heart of the United States, and the Pentagon, the headquarters of our military. The weapons used were our airliners, filled with our fellow countrymen who, at knife point, were made part of the payload.

The image of United Flight 175 slamming into the World Trade Center will stay in our nightmares and the nightmares of our children. The knowledge that our fellow citizens jumped to their deaths rather than burn in the twin towers will haunt us. The smell of the fires from the Pentagon will linger long after the smoke clears. And the grief for our dead will be deep and enduring.

But give this to us, the people of the United States: We will recover. We will bury our dead and then, with unwavering resolve, we will go after the villains.

We will demand nothing less than a full and deadly response. We have been merciful in the past with the terrorist thugs who have attacked this country. We have condemned them and imposed economic sanctions, but we have not hunted them down with murder in our eyes.

Yesterday's attacks, however, amount to a declaration of war against the United States, a sneak attack even more devastating than the one on Pearl Harbor 50 years ago. At least the Japanese were honorable enough to attack a military target. This time, our enemies went after civilians, among them children.

In war, there are casualties. We had our number yesterday. It is time to inflict casualties of our own. And it shouldn't be "proportional" or just enough to send a "message." Our response should be the final word.

To the cowardly zealots responsible, know this: Do not judge our commitment to your destruction by the strangely careful and neutral tone of President Bush's speech last night. His speech did not begin to capture the righteous anger American citizens are feeling right now.

In the days that are coming, as the dead are finally counted, our rage will only build. And everytime we look at the skyline of New York City, or step into an airplane, or turn our calendars to nine, one-one, we will remember your actions, and crave only one thing: blood for blood.

Yesterday belonged to you. You hurt us the way you had hoped.

But tomorrow will belong to us. *

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001