Don't let terrorists break our spirit …

Frontiersman editorial board

Tuesday morning, Alaskans awoke to news of the horror and unimaginable hatred rained down on our fellow citizens in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

There were actions against Americans, never seen before on our shores, with our leaders declaring a war against the perpetrators of these crimes against the civilized world.

The battle has just begun.

With the yet uncalculated loss of human life from these terrorist attacks, the battle to identify and bury our dead and heal the wounded will be daunting and long term.

Americans, including our neighbors in Mat-Su, have rushed to help by donating blood, medical expertise, and money. We must continue this spirit of aid. We must pledge ourselves and our support for the long haul.

We are all of this nation.

The pain felt by the victims and their families is our pain as well.

While the physical injuries are daunting, the catastrophic events were aimed at conquering the spirit and psyche of Americans as well. Just as the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were the terrorists' targets, so was our sense of safety and freedom.

We will battle that assault in our determination that the terrorists will not win, and prove that as a country and a free nation, we are one.

That is where our strength will lie and we will win the psychological war against us.

Our leaders' resolve to stop the terroristic cancer that permeates the world must be our resolve. The battle to seek justice and not revenge will be a difficult order, especially when we see the unspeakable horror on the faces of victims and the desperate attempts from loved ones to find those lost.

Possibly the most formidable battle we face as a nation is not mirroring the inexplicable and deeply rooted hatred our enemies have exhibited in the recent acts against our country.

There is little doubt the terrorists and those who harbor them will be found and dealt with by our government.

But we must struggle and conquer the urge to lash out at the innocent, who, perhaps simply because of their ethnic origins, become the scapegoats of our anger and frustration.

For our survival as a democracy, we must hold steadfast to the tenets of justice and target only the guilty.

America will get through this war and win, and be better for it in the end.