Today I will depart from the energy theme to comment on 9/11 as today is the 5th anniversary of the tragic events that occurred on that day in the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and in an open field in Pennsylvania. Every time I see the videos of those events, I get just as angry as I did when seeing it all on live tv on that bright September morning 5 years ago. As it did then, my anger is directed at the perpetrators who were of the crazed mentality we continue fighting today in the war on terrorism.

Today, I also get angry at those people in this country who don't want to accept the fact the war we fight is really against Islamic extremism and it will last a long time. It would not go away if we were to leave Iraq prematurely; in fact, such a move would only serve to make us look weak and not to be trusted by our allies. Terrorists prey upon weakness.

It also angers me to hear people (35% in a recent poll) suggest that 9/11 was contrived and directed by the Bush administration, that the 3,000 who died that day was acceptable "collateral damage"if it would convince people to support our entry into Afghanistan and Iraq. I find such a position preposperous beyond words.

Criticism of government policies and actions is a given in a democratic society. I don't have problems with that provided the criticism is based on facts, not hearsay, and has been well thought out. And, I understand concerns over privacy and rights guaranteed under our constitution as manifested, for example, by the liberties being taken by the administration on phonecalls between suspected overseas' terrorists and U.S. citizens. But, we are fighting a war that hinges on intelligence gathering more than any previous war in history. We had to give up many freedoms during WWII and I don't know of a single case of an innocent person being hurt by it.

Have we made mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan? Of course we have, there is no activity known to man in which mistakes haven't or won't be made, but should we pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan because of any mistakes made? My answer is NO! If we were to pull out now we would be telling the world and the Islamic fanatics that our word isn't to be trusted, that we are of weak will, and therefore, the fanatics can act without fear of retribution. We must fight on and fulfill our commitment to the people in both countries.