Two years after. Two wars later. Are we better off, are we safer than before? I doubt.

First of all, the tragedy of 9/11 could have been avoided. Signals came earlier and even the perpetrators were earmarked before. But the bureaucratic system was overconfident and too lazy to react. The federal agencies, consuming billions of dollars for their protective work, simply failed.

The question “whom to blame” remains open. The families of the victims are still waiting for the answer.

Then came the War on Terror – without naming the enemy. In many American and foreign minds there’s still a confusion “who’s the enemy”: the Arabs? the Moslems? What Arabs? What Moslems? Islam is the religion of about a billion people. Are the believers of Islam to blame for 9/11? The U.S. Government and the Governments of many other states did very little to clear up this question. And that’s a big mistake.

The first war – against the Taliban in Afghanistan – seemed to be just and properly directed. The second one – against the Saddam’s regime in Iraq – had much less support and raised many doubts as to the U.S. real intentions. The two wars continue, in spite of the crushing victory of the American and allied forces. That means, the problem hasn’t been solved. Ironically, the war against Saddam gave new motivations to the Islamic terrorist forces and mobilized them for a prolonged and sustained fight.

How many wars are we still to fight to win the War on Terror? Will America be forced (or provoked) to extend its military forces all over the World? Can the United States carry such a big burden? Are we well prepared to fight on many fronts? The historical examples, like Persia and Rome, prove that the overextension of the great powers causes their final defeat, although not imminent.

The most important negative lesson of 9/11 is that of humiliation.

After the 2d World War, America was humiliated at least twice: in Korea and in Vietnam, in the confrontation against communism. The change of the strategy, being the result of these lost wars, brought about new victories: in the 1980s, U.S. support to the anticommunist forces in Afghanistan stopped the Soviet aggression; in the global confrontation against the USSR - the U.S. resolve brought about the collapse of the “Evil Empire”, without a war to be fought.

The most important positive lesson of 9/11 is still to be learned:

The War on Terror should be renamed, because in fact it is the war against a definite enemy: the militant Islam.

The United States should not go against this enemy alone but to draw along many allies, not forgetting about the moderate Moslems, who are the main victims of the Islamists.

The U.S.A. must learn how to gain the support of the international community, in the U.N. and outside this global organization of many nations.

The whole U.S. policy versus the World of Islam should be reconsidered and changed: first of all, America should not support totalitarian regimes that suppress their own people.

The tragedy and horror of 9/11 could have been avoided. But it happened and became a part of the American and World history. Let us remember this fatal event and let us draw the right conclusions for the future. This be the best way to honor the victims and to help the living.