Two days ago the world marked the 23rd anniversary of the abominable attack on thousands of civilians in the United States carried out by men who somehow believed that killing innocent people could ever justify their cause.

Almost 3,000 human beings were victims of that mass slaughter. The fact that a number of them were Jamaicans makes it even more personal and painful for us each time we recall images of the hijacked commercial aircraft crashing into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York and the Pentagon building in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001.

We suspect that many of the relatives and friends of the victims are still unable to overcome the grief and sense of loss that this tragedy brought them. That would especially be so for people who are yet to receive conclusive evidence that their loved ones perished in the disaster as, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), about 1,103 of the victims have yet to be identified.

In fact, it was only in January this year that the OCME was able to identify the 1,650th victim — using advanced DNA analysis — Mr John Ballantine Niven, 44, of Oyster Bay, New York, who was a senior vice-president at Aon Risk Services.

We have also learnt from the World Trade Center Health Program that since the attack almost 80,000 people have been diagnosed with physical and mental health conditions brought on by exposure to the dust, smoke, debris, and trauma of the event.

The New York Fire Department has already reported that 182 firefighters have died of 9/11-related illnesses, while the New York Police Department revealed that over the years 156 cops have died of illnesses contracted from their time working in the toxic debris from the fallen towers.

Those are stark indications of the long-term damage inflicted by the terrorists.

As we have pointed out before, while the United States’ history of military involvement in a number of countries has created enemies, nothing can justify the carnage that was inflicted on America, and indeed the world, on that day.

Undoubtedly, the 9/11 attacks created a political atmosphere receptive to retaliation and, at the more extreme level, xenophobia, which gained greater traction after the 2016 presidential election.

But even as the United States struggles with that issue and the prolonged pain of 9/11, we cannot ignore the fact that the American people have demonstrated a resilience that has allowed the nation to recover.

The country’s insistence on honouring the memory of those who perished exemplifies its refusal to submit to the climate of fear that the 9/11 terrorists sought to create. That, we hold, is a demonstration of the kind of resolve that needs to be adopted by other nations dealing with the scourge of terrorism, be it foreign or domestic.

So, as we again reflect on the horror that was 9/11, our thoughts are with the American people and the families of the Jamaicans who died in those heartless attacks. The long history of friendship between our two nations is enriched by the fact that we both share a fundamental belief that murder and mayhem will not shake our resolve to protect the ideals of democracy, freedom, and tolerance of cultural diversity — ideals that must be motivated by the force of ideas, not the force of arms.