9/11 remembered

Seven years ago when the terrible attack on the World Trade Center happened, we were living in Denmark and I was at meetings in London at the time. We still recall the hundreds of people who stood in front of the US Embassy in Copenhagen with candles and flowers to share the mourning.

Every anniversary since then, we have been abroad, so have always observed the 9/11 event from an outside perspective and have seen the world's view of America and how the people and the administration tackled the aftermath. Aric and I were in Madrid when the train bombing occurred and Aric was in Central London when the tube and bus bombings happened. While fortunately always safe, we have felt and seen first hand what revenge can do.

This year, on the seventh anniversary, we are in the very region which spawned the terrorists and in the forgiving and generous holy month of Ramadan, we see no hatred or anti-American press. We are surrounded by average humans who, like Americans, just want to move on. We should never forget, but like Pearl Harbor, the memory becomes more distant with every anniversary.

As I sip my morning coffee and read the paper, the headline, "Seven Years of Terror", is nothing but a description of the tone that set today's America. Fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, over the top tight security, Marshalls patrolling the skies, monitoring Iran's threat of nuclear weapons, the US leadership has - from an Arab and Muslim perspective, become synonomous with arrogance and biased politics.

Whether Christian or Muslim, we all just want our innocent children to grow up having learned from this and using their cultural and global sensitivity to bridge the gap in a post 9/11 environment. Education and diplomacy is the way forward and dialoque the key to obtaining peace. That is what we want from our new leaders, no matter who is elected - is that too much to ask?

We consider ourselves Ambassadors of the United States wherever we are and that's how we are raising Aidan and Hunter.

Tonight, we light a candle in the window for all the victims of 9/11 and hope that more peaceful times are ahead.