Enough has been written and said about what just happened in the larger picture. And I would be a fool if I thought I had anything more to contribute to that end. My city, my hometown, the place where I was born and have lived for most of my life has just been raped right before my eyes. And just like everyone else who lives in and loves this city, I stood around helplessly and watched, hoping against hope that the ridiculous nightmare would soon end. While I still can't feel or think about much else, I can't help but wonder why even the best of us allow cowards to take advantage of us. Whether it's our own homes and possessions or our freedom and rights, why do we leave our boundaries unprotected and vulnerable? And why do we turn into soft targets for those who have no scruples and feel no remorse?

Is it because we are too busy chasing the little things that do not really matter? Or because we are so smug in our belief that no one can touch us. When you acquire something can you rest assured that it will belong to you forever? That you would never have to fight for it and save it from treacherous clutches?

We spend our lives chasing the ephemeral because we are too scared to pursue the sublime. Why does your back have to be against the wall for you to finally face up to the truth? Why does your heart have to pound and your head feel like it's about to explode before you finally begin to speak? And why do you have to piss in your bloody pants before you finally acknowledge that this is where you belong?

There is a terrorist hidden inside and among each and every one of us. We encounter them all the time. For it is only the human mind that can become so callous, abandoning all sense of reason and purpose. Even animals do not behave in this manner. Pillaging and plundering what does not belong to you, snatching away the rights of others just because you are too spineless to ask for it, knowing you do not deserve it. We live among such people and such people live within us. It only takes a single second to start destruction even if you spend a lifetime trying to recover from it.
There are terrorists among us all the time and only some of them carry guns.