Looking back on the days following the horrific fall of the twin towers in 2001, an entire nation was swept into a deluge of patriotism and grief. The American flag, donations for the families of those lost and televised memorials for the victims of Sept. 11 seemed inescapable.

The sight of a commercial jet crashing into one of the famous twin towers aired on every news station may have had a lasting affect on American citizens but not on the American government.

A few days after terrorists hijacked four commercial jets, President Bush addressed Congress, as well as the country, with a speech that disclosed the U.S. strategy of capturing or killing prime suspect Osama Bin Laden and cutting off the head of Al-Qaida.

“Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done,” Bush said. But he evidently went back on his word. The military campaign Bush titled “Operation Enduring Freedom” slowly got under way but made astounding progress in a matter of phases.

After the U.S. forces managed to drastically cripple Al-Qaida, it failed to destroy the Taliban and bring Bin Laden to justice. The reason the terrorist group, which eventually went on to devastate London on July 7, evaded capture was because the U.S. turned its head away from Afghanistan and toward Iraq for the speculative discovery of “weapons of mass destruction.”

According to Bush and his cabinet, “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” was intended to eradicate the threat of Saddam Hussein, eliminate any terrorist activity in the battle- fraught country, and establish a new Iraqi government. Although I believe that the regime of Hussein caused the progressive social unrest of Iraq by creating a savage and pervasive authoritarian government, salvaging a country and searching for terrorists should have been the crusade instead.

Common sense dictates that a terrorist organization suspected of worldwide bombings and kidnappings since 1993 should be the initial target.

I don’t believe that U.S. troops should back out of Iraq in attempt to redirect their combative operation. Leaving Iraq at the threshold of ruinous anarchism will make the soldiers’ deaths pointless.

But because of the diminished efforts to decimate one of the largest anti-American terrorist organizations, the victims of Sept. 11 will be the first of many innocent civilians killed in the United States at the hands of Al-Qaida.