Our Finest Hour

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News anchor and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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I can't even remember where it was, but in the months after 9/11 I was giving a lecture when a young person rose with a question.

He said, "you keep talking about the brave Americans but aren't the people who flew those airplanes into the twin towers heroes too? After all, they believed so deeply in their cause, they were willing to give their lives for it."

I was stunned.

"No," I told him, "those people are not heroes nor can they ever be. They deliberately took the lives of innocent men, women and children to promote their cause. No cause, even a noble cause, is worth that."

"Americans did the opposite, over and over," I said, "they risked their lives — some gave their lives — for no reason or reward except to save the innocent." And not just at Ground Zero and the Pentagon but all over America people went back to work, opened their homes to those without homes, Congress passed emergency legislation, partisan differences faded, road rage vanished as the country came together as it had not come together since World War II.

Sadly, much of that feeling has drifted away but I like to believe that deep down it is still there in all of us. We must never forget the dark day that was 9/11, but we must always remember it led to America's finest hour.

We were all heroes that day. We had to be.

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By Bob Schieffer

[lumariew]

If those men in those 4 airplanes weren't heros to their misguided plan how can our troops who are killing innocent Iraqi's everyday be considered heros?

[wstbrk2002]

Bob Schieffer's comments yesterday as to wether the 9/11 highjackers were hero's. I agree with with him.

Howvever; if you apply the same logic to the United States and the pre-emptive strike on Irag, does that logic not place the United States and Bush in the same catagory????

Depends on whose ox was gored!
Jim
Texas

[bbsbvb83]

At 8:49 PM on 9-10-06, cpquandt posted the following: %u201C%u2026 the people involved in bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki should not be viewed as brave as they too knew they were going to kill thousands of innocents%u2026 in fact many times the number of innocents killed in New York%u2026 For a newscaster to not understand this is disturbing to me.%u201D

There is at least one major difference between the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki and the 9-11 attacks. The U.S. attacks on Japan in 1945 were provoked by direct military action against the U.S. At the time, Japan was an imperial nation seeking to expand its territory and gain access to more natural resources. Japan%u2019s methods in obtaining these resources led the United States to ban the trade of certain items with Japan. Instead of continuing peaceful negotiations, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and killed over 2,400 Americans. Whether or not you agree with the decision to drop the atomic bombs, you must admit that it was a provoked action.

The 9-11 terrorist attacks were carried out primarily because of al-Qaeda%u2019s hatred of Americans, the American way of life, and the influence of Americans in Moslem countries. We did not bomb Japan because we hated the Japanese, but Al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. because they hate Americans.

The fact that a fellow citizen has such a poor understanding of modern history as it relates to the United States disturbs me.

[cpquandt]

Today, September 10, 2006, you said that you responded to a question about the 9-11 terrorists by saying that the terrorist were not brave and fighting for what they believed because they intentionally were going to kill innocent people. I disagree. Using the same rhetoric that you used, the people involved in boming Hiroshima and Nagasaki should not be viewed as brave as they too knew they were going to kill thousands of innocents ... in fact many times the number of innocents killed in New York.

Both the 9-11 terrorists and the America in Japan knew they were killing innocents but they were fighting a bigger war with hope of a much bigger message then killing the people that were killed.

I am an American but I refuse to defend each and every American action and I refuse to condemn each and every action against America. I do wholeheartedly condemn and detest the terrorists who attacked New York but I believe that, in their minds, the terrorists were fighting for a greater belief, just as the USA often does and just as the ends often justify the means for America. For a newscaster to not understand this is disturbing to me.

[charleswlane]

Secretary Rice (along with the rest of America) fails to recall that Saddam Hussein was given every opportunity to avert our preemptive strike against his nation. In the weeks, days and hours before the fateful decision to send our bombs, we watched our President (commander in chief) conscientiously struggle with a decision to secure our country or avoid being a participant in needless bloodshed. If Saddam Hussein was not attempting to hide something, then he should not have called our bluff. He is responisible for his demise, and the resulting unplanned struggle has more to do with regional reactionary politics (i.e., Syria, Tehran, Shiite, Sunni, Kurd and Turk) than any incompetence on our part to govern a people who do not want our government. Americans need a refresher course, not Democratic revisionism . . . and this from a life long Democrat.

[roguecowboy-2009]

Cheney: Iraq war right, WMD or not - Meet the Press, online at MSNBC - MSNBC.com
Cheney clearly was the MASTERMIND of the Illegal "WAR" in Iraq. He should have his fingernails pulled out one by one with pliers over a 2 day period then his toenails should be removed the same way. Then he might disclose his true role in the PRE-EMPTIVE WAR which has cost the lives of nearly 2700 American Teenagers.
If that does not work electrodes should be connected to his genitals and voltage applied until he fries or talks.This is the same way the Bush Administration has treated "terrorists" without a trial in secret prison around the world in countries that did not sign the Geneva Conventions.
If 270,000 Iraqi Security Forces and 100,000 Iraqi Police can not secure their own country by the end of this year they will NEVER BE READY and will need our 150,000 troops to be in harms way forever with at least two teenagers being killed every day. How many AL Qaeda Terrorists are in Iraq? More than 10,000? I doubt it!
370,000 Iraqi's trained by the US should be able to handle 10,000 bad guys. That's 37 good guys to 1 bad guy.
The standard military rule is 5 to 1 (Powell Doctrine) so why are our troops still needed? "CIVIL WAR"

Jim Frego
Grants Pass, OR

[abdallahou]

Your reamark "They deliberately took the lives of innocent men, women and children to promote their cause. No cause, even a noble cause, is worth that." I definitely agree with you. However, how about us nuking Japan in WWII or Israel indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon and Palestine? I think these also should be condemned.