Sadly, a wake-up call that's been sounded ad nauseam by veterans groups and intelligence/defense committees, et al, for eight years. We slept right through all the alarms. More sad is that it took the enemy to turn the alarm up on Sept. 11 to the point that we were awakened.

Many also feel that the decimation of our defense department during this period gave terrorists a free reign in planning their strategy that included the attack of Sept 11 - this attack being mild compared to that which is within their capability.

God only knows what additional planned chemical, biological and/or nuclear terrorist attacks would be launched against our nation had our presidency continued under the same treasonous neglect that would have allowed terrorists the time to fully exercise the full brunt of their planned devastation. Hopefully, the Sept. 11 tragedy will be a wake-up call to those who've been hard of hearing.

Armond "Si" Simmons,

Pell City, Ala.