Max Cleland: “I was sickened by the actions that were taken against our country yesterday. I felt very much like I was back in the…”

“I was sickened by the actions that were taken against our country yesterday. I felt very much like I was back in the Vietnam war in the Tet Offensive of 1968 of which I was lucky to survive. When I looked out my window and saw the smoke coming from the Pentagon, I literally felt, for the first time, that I was under attack in my own country. That is a terrible feeling. I think many Americans shared that feeling. My staff is still trying to recover. They still have traces of tears in their eyes and on their faces from the suffering that we have seen on television by our fellow Americans. For the first time, I guess certainly in a long, long time, American blood has been shed on American soil by a foreign enemy. That gives us all pause to get the most out of this historic moment. That is what I am trying to do in my own mind as I rise to pay tribute to those wonderful rescue workers who have come to the aid of our fellow Americans in New York and in this great city of Washington, DC. But I think of the families as well who have suffered forever the loss of a loved one. Many children will go without fathers tonight. Many families will go without loved ones. And that grieves me greatly. But what are we to do? What are we to make of this? As a member of the Armed Services Committee for the last 5 years, I have been growing impatient, and in many ways frustratingly concerned, about the growth of terrorism and its impact on this country.”