Before September 11 I never really thought or worried about terrorism. As a U.S. citizen I felt that I was always protected from the savagery that is experienced by other nations. Suicide bombers and fighting in the streets just weren’t a part of our everyday lives. But on 9/11 all of that changed, terrorism and the hatred that the rest of the world has for the country that I love touched home and it unexpectedly became very real for me as it did for many other Americans.

The September 11th attack wasn’t the first terrorist attack on the United States but it undoubtedly was the worst. Almost 3,000 lives were claimed during the attack on the World Trade Center and life as we knew it suddenly changed. The passing of The Patriot Act gave the government power to pry into almost every aspect of our lives with no questions asked, security at our airports increased, and citizens of Middle Eastern descent automatically became targets of racism and prejudice. No longer did we look at our friends or neighbors the same. On that fateful day those terrorists took more than just lives they took a part of our freedom and part of our peace of mind. They took our freedom to live worry free. I can no longer board a plane without wondering if it will be hijacked. I often worry that if they were successful in planning and carrying out the September 11^th attacks then they can do it again and I’ve lost faith in my country’s ability to protect its citizens.

We were able to capture Saddam Hussein but still have been unsuccessful in capturing the master mind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden. I often wonder what the country will do to him if we ever do get him within our grasp. President Obama recently signed an order to close Guantanamo Bay Prison because of the alleged mistreatment of its prisoners and inhumane interrogation tactics. I don’t agree with our President’s decision to close the prison. If terrorists are inhumanely treated then it serves them right. They are getting exactly what they deserve. What rights should they have after killing hundreds and sometimes thousands of innocent people? Were they thinking of the rights of the innocent people that they killed? The rights of the families left behind just because of their distorted beliefs and misinterpretation of religion.

These men should suffer every day of their lives for their actions. Guantanamo Bay is exactly where they belong. Where does the President plan to send them once Gitmo closes? No country wants to allow them back into their own countries and does America really want these prisoners in their own backyards? Is he going to send them into our own domestic prison system? Having even one of these prisoners in an American prison invites terrorism to the country. The men in Guantanamo are evil and filled with nothing but hate. They should be contained in a prison that is established, secure, and equipped to deal with them. Putting them into our own prison system will only do more harm to our country and it will be our tax dollars paying to house and support them.

Earlier today the Associated Press reported that Scotland has freed terrorist Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted in the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing. Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Scotland on December 21, 1988. In 2001, Al-Megrahi was convicted and since has been serving his sentence in a Scotland prison. Scotland has decided to free the terrorist citing compassionate grounds solely because he has been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and has been given less than three months to live. I am totally confused and angry with this decision. Why should a convicted terrorist who killed innocent people be shown compassion? He should spend the remaining last months of his life suffering just as those family members who lost loved ones suffer every day of their lives. Am I just too cold-hearted and lack compassion for wanting these despicable human beings to suffer or should we really being showing them mercy?