Sept. 11, 8 years later

"The horrors of Sept. 11, 2001, are still vivid for many Americans, especially the families of the victims," said The New York Times in an editorial. So it's a shame that the ceremony at ground zero on the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attack is happening at "an unfinished place," where the planned memorial pools and ring of skyscrapers have yet to be built. Rebuilding is vital to our effort to move on—it shouldn't have taken this long.

"Life moves on" regardless, said Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal, and that's "painful for those who will not forget and cannot be comforted." But "9/11 was for America's kids exactly what Nov. 22, 1963, was for their parents and uncles and aunts." They'll always remember that day—it changed them in more ways than we know.

But schools are now filled with students who were too young to remember much about what happened on that day eight years ago, said Eli Saslow in The Washington Post. Millions of schoolchildren will remember Sept. 11, 2001, only through homework assignments and essay questions. We've already started to move from "the personal to the preserved" memories of 9/11—"this is the uncomfortable transition that time requires of all great tragedies."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

We've already forgotten way too much, said Ralph Peters in the New York Post. "Eight years ago today, our homeland was attacked by fanatical Muslims inspired by Saudi Arabian bigotry. Three thousand American citizens and residents died." We resolved never to forget, yet we've already gone soft in the fight against Islamist extremism.

Americans should be proud of the way we responded to 9/11, said Rebecca Solnit in the Los Angeles Times. Ordinary citizens showed calm and courage. Though we must remember the dead, "the living are the monument." We shined as a people on that day—now the best thing we can do is to coexist in peace.