today, all americans grieve alongside you. together, we also pray that god will heal the other courageous american service members who were wounded in this heinous attack. in addition, our hearts are with the families of all the innocent civilians who died, and with the many men, women, and children who were terribly injured in this act of evil. this tragedy should never have taken place. it should never have happened. and it would not have happened if i were your president. over the past few weeks, i know that many americans have felt profound sorrow and even pain watching the events taking place in afghanistan. and perhaps none more so than the veterans of that 20 year war. many of them answered the call proudly and without hesitation after the terrorist attacks of september 11th 2001. every american who served in