Newly released aerial photos of the World Trade Center terror attack are a searing reminder of the battle we continue to face against extremists.

Even more they point to the wisdom of a 2-1 ruling on the The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that recently overturned the 22-year sentence of Ahmed Ressam, the man caught smuggling explosives into this country from Victoria, British Columbia, at Port Angeles border.

The court’s point: The 22-year sentence failed to “protect the public” from the al-Qaida-trained terrorist since Ressam would only be 53 when released from prison.

Look the the photos on this page of the attack on the World Trade Center buildings and ask yourself if 22 years in prison is enough for the death and destruction terrorists have done and continue to plot against the United States. Ressam reportedly had targeted his explosives for the Los Angeles airport.

Federal prosecutors in the Ressam case had argued for life in prison. Instead, federal Judge John Coughenour settled on a sentence far below the sentencing guidelines which range from 65 yeaers to life behind bars.

The resentencing hearing now will go before a different judge because, as the appeals court ruling states, Coughenour’s “previously expressed views appear too entrenched to allow for the appearance of fairness on remand.”

In December 2008, Coughenour defended the sentence, noting Ressam’s earlier cooperation with intelligence agencies from the United States, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and England. What wasn’t mentioned was that Ressam had stopped cooperating with authorities three years earlier.

Sept. 11, 2001 was nearly nine years ago, but we should never forget what happened then – or what terrorists still seek to do today. We are at war with terrorists and should act that way.

– Craig Groshart, for the Bellevue Reporter