7 Years of Silence

I turned off the radio this morning because it's filled with remembrances of the September 11 attacks. I can still see the images vividly enough in my mind without having the tapes replayed or walking through the time line of events one more time.

I'm thinking of 9/11 in a different way today. The best way I can think of to remember the day is silence. Silence from a single successful attack against our nation on our home soil in seven years. And it's not for lack of trying. Reports out earlier this week say we're as dangerously exposed as ever to terrorist attack. Perhaps. But contrast that with the attacks that have been foiled over the last seven years.

December 2001 - Richard Reid attempted to bomb flight from Paris to Miami - FOILED

May 2002 - The Lackawana Six were apprehended after training with Al Qaeda - FOILED

May 2003 - Iyman Faris, an American charged with plotting to take down the Brooklyn Bridge - FOILED

June 2003 - Eleven men from Virginia trained for jihad convicted of conspiracy - FOILED

August 2004 - Dhiren Barot - terror cell leader plotted bombings on financial centers - FOILED

August 2004 - Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain plotted to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat on American soil - FOILED

June 2005 - Umer Hayat and son were convicted of attending a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and violating customs - FOILED

August 2005 - Four Los Angeles men plotted attacks on National Guard, LAX, two synagogues, and the Israeli consulate - FOILED

December 2005 - Michael Reynolds plotted to blow up gas refineries in Wyoming and New Jersey - FOILED

February 2006 - Mohammad Zaki Amawi and two others discovered providing material support to terrorists and making bombs for use in Iraq - FOILED

April 2006 - Syed Haris Ahmed and Eshanul Sadequee cased and video taped the Capitol and World Bank for terrorist organization - FOILED

June 2006 - Seven men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower - FOILED

July 2006 - Assem Hammoud plotted to blow up NYC train tunnels - FOILED

August 2006 - Liquid Explosives Plot to explode 10 airliners over the US - FOILED

May 2007 - Six men plotted to attack Fort Dix NJ and kill soldiers with assault rifles and grenades - FOILED

June 2007 - Four men plotted to blow up fuel lines running through residential neighborhoods at JFK Airport in Newark - FOILED

September 2007 - Three members of Islamic Jihad Union linked to Al Qaeda arrested in Germany for planning attacks against military installations used by Americans - FOILED

So far, batting a thousand. Not bad. Two final thoughts emerge in my mind. One, the War on Terror is quite real and continues on. And two, with ten thousand terrorists killed or captured between Iraq and Afghanistan, we're winning it and we're safer than we were 7 years ago.