“Never Forget”: 9/11 Then and Now—Thoughts on Readiness
August 31, 2021 | Dr. Sarah Lohmann
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I stopped by the post office on my way to the newsroom of the Washington, DC–based newspaper where I worked as an editorial writer. I wanted to mail a postcard of the World Trade Center, where I had just been for an interview with a foreign dignitary a few days before.
“This no longer exists,” the postal employee said as he looked at the postcard I had shoved into his hand. “Word is, next plane is headed for the Capitol,” he said, cranking up the radio.
A few short minutes later, I watched plumes of smoke from the Pentagon clog up the horizon as I drove by on the freeway. Cars were parking on the side of the road, everyone trying to call loved ones. The city was mass pandemonium as Capitol Hill workers abandoned cars and ran, observing the warning the Capitol was to be evacuated.
Finally arriving in the newsroom, I joined shocked colleagues huddled around the television and watching replays of the moment the planes hit the towers. The next week was like one long day. Photographers were sent to get as close to the Pentagon site as possible. Our top journalists were sent to all three sites of the downed planes to do investigative reporting. I was to analyze the events and churn out opinion pieces. With a handful of other big-city newspapers, we were given the Osama bin Laden tape—the one recorded before the attacks in which he talked about his plans for destruction and the angle of impact that causes the most casualties. Horrified, I played it over and over, stopping and starting the tape, jotting down notes, and trying to make sense of it all. For me, the burning Pentagon hurt the most. The Pentagon was more than a familiar landmark that had been part of my backyard since my teen years; it was a symbol of US strength and security.
All week, we kept waiting for the next attack. On the Potomac River in front of my little apartment, warships replaced the little sailboats passing by the small marina across from my home. Tanks and fences surrounded the Capitol. We felt as if we were under siege. And though we did eventually exhale, “We will never forget” became the mantra of every Washington government agency. This mantra guided key decisions long after the banners scrawled with those words were eventually removed from every bridge in the city. We would soon learn warning signs had presented themselves, but we had not been ready.
While Washington prepared its response, NATO was also clear and purposeful. On the day of the attacks, NATO declared its solidarity with the United States and offered its assistance and support. On September 12, it invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, pending confirmation the attacks had emanated from abroad. The secretary general of NATO, Lord Robertson, invoked Article 5 on October 2 as a result of the conclusions of the international investigation into the attack. Article 5 states an armed attack against one or more allies may be considered an attack against all. These events and that month changed the direction of my career.
Previously focused on human rights in my foreign policy coverage, I was now painfully aware—with the rest of the nation—these could not flourish in a security void. My attention turned to NATO, its expansion, and the terrorist threat to member nations from the Greater Middle East, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Mediterranean.1 I increasingly spent my time traveling to the Eastern European countries that were ready to help support the United States in its fight for democracy and reporting on their progress as they coupled new human rights standards with improved military readiness. Desiring to commit more time to my new interest in the nexus of security and human rights,
