The whole world, not only the United States, will observe the 10th year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trace Center in New York City. This was the single largest attack on the United States soil since Pearl Harbor with more lives lost than the Japanese sneak attack that finally dragged the country to World War II. It wasn't only US citizens who died at the Twin Towers, people from other countries, races, and religions also perished on that day.

What transpired after 9/11 was the War on Terror, with President Bush declaring "It's either you're with us, or against us," launching what is going to be the longest war waged by the country since the Vietnam War. It's involvement in Afghanistan together with its NATO allies is still far from over even if the clamor to get out gets louder as the country remains ungovernable and the Taliban still much a force to reckon with. Al Qaeda is now a crippled organization and said to be dwindling further with the death of Osama Bin Laden at the hands of the DEVGRU when President Obama authorized one of the most audacious raids in modern military history.

While the world observes the anniversary, Americans still have much to reflect on the attacks. They have sent young men and women to go after a small organization that relies on terror to spread its extreme Islamic agenda. However, along the way the priorities went wrong, with an invasion of a country that wasn't connected at all to Bin Laden nor was it planning to build weapons of mass destruction to attack the US. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost, and trillions of dollars (6.6 of it and counting) have been spent, but the War on Terror is still far from being concluded. This infographic at Wired.com will give you an understanding of how US resources were used. Click on it to go to the page.

Was it really an over reaction? Some sectors have been pointing it out, while others would rather not make a full account of it. We are still living under paranoia and fear even after Bin Laden has been shot to death. The airports, once were very welcoming to the weary or excited traveller, are now places where you fear about pat downs, security checks, highly restrictive luggage rules, and no-fly lists. Anti-terror laws also get abused where even the innocent get dragged. What were once very normal or funny things, taking photos in public places, joking about "bombs", and entering places of interests without being inspected are now considered security concerns. We have all become suspects while also becoming victims.

Meanwhile, the War was waged without the country thinking of how it's going to pay for it. With the economic crisis besetting the country, where resources are needed to spur spending and employment, the War on Terror has sucked most of it and with budget cuts are being made from other cherised institutions to fund these are compromising the American Dream. It is a costly war, and the American people are still looking for answers, most especially a conclusion.

The War on Terror inspired many scenarios in airsoft, that even Optimusprime's observation about the explosive growth of airsoft in the past years can be attributed to this. With the mass media showing images of soldiers in gear going off to war, of the heroics and bravery of those who seeked out the destruction of Al Qaeda, there has been a lot of interest in guns, gears, and exploits of those who are involved in the war. There was great fascination on the War on Terror that even some of those who got into airsoft eventually volunteered to go the frontlines and made the ultimate sacrifice.

9/11 will never be forgotten. It was an attack on the soul of the American people and left a wound that still remains open.