While I realize that Tuesday’s attack on our country was tragic, and I feel upset and vulnerable, the newspaper says nothing about our response.

To me, it was amazing the way the attacks were coordinated; the people who planned and carried them out did what they intended: first, they killed thousands of innocent people, second, they brought the biggest city in America, and the world to its knees, third, they dealt a tremendous blow to our sense of freedom and security.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 is truly a day “which will live in infamy,” as Franklin D. Roosevelt once said of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

While I do want the people who were responsible for the attacks punished, I do not want this to ignite another world war.

How will the United States look if we go and bomb countries who house and advocate terrorists? We would have done exactly what the cowards wanted us to do; and yes, I call them cowards; anyone who can kill innocent civilians during a time of peace, by surprise attacks are indeed cowardly.

Dropping a nuclear bomb on someone will not solve anything; only create more carnage.

The people who are responsible for the attacks on the World Trade twin towers, the nation’s symbol for our power of commerce, and the Pentagon, the nation’s military center, attacked our freedom, our security, and our way of life; they need to be brought to justice.

We can’t necessarily point our finger at the Islamic nations because it could be someone different. This could be like Oklahoma, and the attackers could be American.

One thing is for sure, we as a nation need to take responsibility, and upgrade our security procedures; something must be done to improve our national security.

But I agree with President Bush; yesterday’s attacks were acts of war, and we do need to defend ourselves.

America truly showed the world that we are indeed united. The help that was sent to New York and Washington by states and cities all over the country, and how quickly we reacted and secured our borders, airports and skies was utterly astounding.

We showed the terrorists that, not only are we still a free nation, we are a free united nation.

Jessica Cejnar, undecided