Nine years of fear and reprisal

What went through my mind that morning nine years ago probably mirrored what most of my fellow Americans felt. Confusion. Fear. Helplessness. Outrage. Fury. The incident inspired a primal reaction in me I had not felt since I was a child learning how to cope with life's hard lessons. But ever so slowly, those destabilizing emotions faded and I was able to place those events in their proper context. Others, however, have held onto those feelings like a favorite shirt that is tattered beyond repair, but they've worn it so long they can't bear to part with it.

The attacks of 9/11 demanded a response. Someone had to pay, and pay dearly. Since then, we've conquered and occupied two countries, bringing about the deaths of hundreds of thousands and the destruction of cities, towns and villages. And we've sacrificed thousands more American lives and hundreds of billions in wealth squandered. But when will the debt of anger be stamped "paid in full"?

Nine years, and the location where those nefarious plots originated has yet to be pacified:

"When we first came here, we were giving candy away and water bottles. But as soon as we saw a little kid throw a grenade over the wall, that was it, we don't give 'em anything anymore," said Provenzano, of the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment.

"We make sure they keep their distance," he said of the population. "You keep 'em away from you as long as you can, because it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt."

Grenade assaults against U.S. forces occur mostly when they move into walled Senjeray. They began in earnest in June, and "a significant amount" of troops have been wounded but none killed, said Capt. Nick Stout, a 27-year-old U.S. company commander from Lake Orion, Mich.

Soldiers say the assaults are aimed at demoralizing or disrupting their operations. Stout said the Taliban or their sympathizers are "trying everything they can to keep us out."

"But you have to continue to get out there, you have to keep them at bay," Stout said. Because "if we don't go in, things could get a lot worse."

We've got little kids throwing grenades at us, but no one is talking about what I mentioned in the intro: little kids don't understand issues of Democratization and strategic interests. They operate on a primal level, where unreasonable emotions rule their decisions. If they are now the adversary that needs to be studied and countered, we have totally lost our way.