As those of you in NYC and elsewhere begin to cope with the pain and loss from these tragic events, you may wonder if the rest of the country is as shocked, outraged and heartsick as you who experienced the loss of friends and loved ones directly.  I can assure you we are.  Everyone I know in LA is as sickened, angered and grief-stricken as if we'd been there personally.  We've had nightmare images wake us from our sleep the last two nights, and everywhere I've gone there is a palpable feeling of the weight of these vile deeds.  A friend stranded in Frankfurt on business called and told me the reaction in Europe is the same as here.

The first blood drawn may have been yours, but the rest of the country, and indeed our allies, share the intensity of your pain and are as determined as you are to right this wrong.   My heart and prayers go out to the thousands of innocent souls lost in this tragedy, and to the families and friends whose lives will be forever changed.  

Sixty years ago, the free peoples of the world united and went to war to abolish the evils of Fascism and Nazism.  Now, we must do so again to rid the world of an equally destructive, but even more insidious force- Terrorism.  Be assured that we will once again unite, and that we will once again prevail.  

Because this week all Americans are New Yorkers, and all freedom-loving people around the world are Americans.