Lest we not forget ...

For those of you who enjoy the almost effortless delivery of streaming audio and video content on the Internet  …

Today is a sad day for our nation and it is a shame that very few people know,  according to the FAA investigation, that it is believed that the first man to die at the hands of the 9/11 hijackers was Danny Lewin, an American born in Colorado and brought up in Israel.

Danny was a brilliant computer researcher whose research at MIT resulted in the algorithms for managing internet traffic. His work was the technology behind the company he co-founded, Akamai Technologies (Hawaiian for Smart or clever), one of the least advertised and most successful Internet companies in the world. A company devoted to providing rich content almost effortlessly to thousands of  simultaneously users.

The first man to die …

Danny was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 (inbound from Logan Airport in Boston with hijack group leader Mohammad Atta on board) and the FAA believes that he was the first man killed as he attempted to foil the hijackers.

This was the plane that first hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. on that fateful morning. One of the flight attendants managed to communicate with the Airlines base during the hijacking and was able to relay that two flight attendants were stabbed and Danny’s throat was cut while attempting to intervene in the hijacking.

Danny was probably not unaware of the dangers as he sat near Mohammad Atta and possibly in front of another hijacker.

And he was not an ordinary passenger. Along with being a brilliant and rich computer entrepreneur, Danny was also  member of Israel’s elite Sayeret Matkal group in the Israel Defense Force for four years. Same as Benjamin Netanyahu and his brother Yonatan who led the successful raid on Entebbe. And being fluent in Hebrew, English and Arabic, Danny most certainly knew what was being shouted back and forth in the aircraft. 

Bottom line …

I could provide further details of the hijacking and recap Danny’s almost magical life, but the bottom line is that he was one of us, a man with a  common touch, willing to talk with anybody about any subject.

It should be noted that this single man contributed more to modern society than all of the religious crazies living in Muslim nations.

If there are any lessons to be learned from Danny’s death, they are:

one, life is fragile -- no matter how smart, wealthy or well-connected you might at any time be the victim of circumstance;

two, there exists in this world, hundreds of thousands of religious crazies who are willing to trade their lives to cause suffering, death and destruction to those whom they believe are their religious and ideological enemies; and

three, the government’s bureacracy is often so slow, inefficient and wound up in turf and budget wars that they can hardly connect the dots – and when they do – are afraid to take decisive action. Not always, but enough to be troublesome to ordinary Americans.

Had any of these people had access to atomic weaponry, destroying New York, Chicago or Los Angeles would not bring a second thought.

Danny led the way – fighting against a clearly defined enemy.

Do not let the far-left liberals in our government convince you otherwise: unless Islam is reformed it represents a clear and present danger to both America and the non-Muslim world.

We need to elect leaders and keep our eyes open from those who pretend they are friends of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan both come immediately to mind. There are no moderate Muslims – and if there are, they are ineffective in controlling the crazies among them.

We need to understand that our Constitution is not a suicide pact – and that we can take decisive action against religious threats as if they were any other enemy combatant.

“Vigilance and Peace Through Strength” are concepts that are not well understood by the democrat party and its far-left liberal Marxist infiltrators.

Unfortunately, I am not even sure that we can depend on the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his fellow travelers to protect America from its enemies both foreign and domestic.

Now is the time to honor both nations dear to Danny: America and Israel. It is what he would have wanted and what he died fighting for.

Rest in Peace Danny