SEPTEMBER 11

Today is a day of remembrance. For all who witnessed it, Sept. 11, 2001, will never be forgotten. For generations to come, Sept. 11ths of the future will be days for solemn reflection. The deaths, the buildings, the airplanes, the astounding heroism are forever engraved in the most consecrated part of the national memory.

This is a day to remember something more. What happened on Sept. 11, 2001, was not a disaster, a horror, a tragedy or any other form of calamity. Nor was it a crime. It was an act of war – an unwarranted, sneak attack against this country and its people, against freedom.

It was an act of war that remains not fully unanswered. Yes, thousands of foot soldiers in this army of repression and hatred have been killed or taken prisoner. The generals, however, remain at large. And, as the recent news that a large shipment of al-Qaida gold had been tracked to Sudan – tracked, not intercepted – demonstrates, the vast financial resources that allowed Osama bin Laden to recruit, train and dispatch his murderers remain intact. The assassination attempt against Afghan President Hamid Karzai, leader of a nation liberated from repression and hatred at the price of American lives, is a clear indication of the determination and ruthlessness of this enemy.

It was a sneak attack, but – with the benefit of painful hindsight – it should not have been a surprise. Osama Bin Laden and his army declared war on civilization a decade ago. Terrorist attacks throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia for too long were seen as the isolated acts of lunatics, not as part of a concerted campaign. The 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, the two embassy bombings in Africa, the attack on the U.S. military garrison in Saudi Arabia, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen were dots waiting to be connected.

That awful morning a year ago today connected them. The American public rallied, pouring out not just grief for the victims and anger for the perpetrators, but generosity, support and gratitude toward those thrust onto the front lines. Firefighters and police officers became the new heroes at home, men and women in military uniform went overseas with the prayers of an entire nation. Equally commendable: Despite a few terrible incidents, the common ethnicity and religion of the attackers did not lead to widespread retaliation against innocent Middle Eastern Muslims.

American political leaders responded with similar purposefulness. The right words of resolve were spoken, the legislation for reprisal was passed, the funding to carry it out secured.

Purposefulness unravels: partisan bickering over entirely irrelevant matters, turf battles over jurisdiction, pork-barrel spending that would be offensive even in times of peace. America remains as addicted to Middle East oil as ever, despite the cover it provides the army of terrorism and the unwise decisions it has led decades of American political leaders to make. And Congress has yet to decide how it could have acted more thoughtfully in places such as Afghanistan to make the quiet support for the attack less likely.

Now, with Mr. bin Laden, presumably still alive, and his high command in hiding, there is a drumbeat for war against Iraq. It is a distracting drumbeat for an irrational war that would make the current war, the urgent and real war, the war that must be won, all the harder to win. Let this Sept. 11 be a day to remember not merely what happened but also what remains to be done.