It’s been five years, and we still haven’t captured or killed the man responsible for these acts.

The fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is fast approaching. It is a time of remembrance, a time to preserve the memory of those we lost and a time to recall those who perpetrated the attacks on our soil.

I recall that day quite vividly. I was sitting in math class. Afterwards, as I walked in the halls, my friend Al asked me, “Did you hear?”

A plane had hit the World Trade Center, where there had previously been an attack in 1993. Of course, many of my peers didn’t remember that, and I didn’t blame them. We were, in fact, much younger then. Yet somehow that memory came to me right away. That’s what I first remember about that day — knowing that an attack had previously been carried out on those same towers.

Our nation did not diminish, however; we grew stronger, closer. We had a common goal: to hold those who attacked us accountable.

It’s been five years, and we still haven’t captured or killed the man responsible for these acts.

I’m not blaming anyone for the fact that Osama bin Laden is still loose. It can be very difficult to find a single person who moves quickly.

What I can’t understand, however, is how we are in the mess we find ourselves in today. We have fought two wars in this global War on Terror, but we have yet to find the man responsible for Sept. 11.

Our presence in Iraq was due in large part to keep terrorists from attaining weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein. We have since found out he had none. The country is now home to countless acts of terror every day. On average in the months of June and July of this year, 100 Iraqis died every day.

Meanwhile, in the quest to save American lives, more American soldiers are dying for a cause that has little to do with bin Laden himself.

Don’t misread what I’m telling you: I fully support what those soldiers are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are fighting to make those countries a better place for those people. And yes, Saddam was an evil dictator and his capture was a great thing for the world.

What aggravates me is the path we took to get to Iraq. There were no terrorists involved in Sept. 11 from Iraq, there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and now the country has become a haven for terrorists.

If we are to truly fight global terror, we must do everything in our power to pursue the true terrorists. We cannot overthrow governments and rebuild countries while fighting a global war on terrorists who pledge allegiance to no state.

We must not forget the lessons of Sept. 11. We must continue to fight against terror in this world of ours. We must find terrorists who wish to do us harm, and we must capture or kill them. But we must also remember not to get sidetracked — to keep our heads set on this single objective. The security of our country depends on it.

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