The 19 Islamic terrorist hijackers didn’t just attack our Pentagon building, bring down the Twin Towers, crash all four planes and kill nearly 3,000 people in the process — they also stole from every man, woman and child in America some of the everyday freedoms we once took for granted prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

Long gone are the days when we could lightheartedly arrive at an airport to excitedly embark upon a much-anticipated trip without running the risk of being subjected to a full body scan and/or a pat down that could easily be viewed as a sexual assault if it wasn’t coming from trained TSA agents who are merely doing their job in the manner they must in order to keep us all safe from harm.

We will never again enjoy the simple pleasures of writing a silly email or making a playfully intimate phone call without the accompanying awareness that our communications are being electronically monitored by governmental agencies who are being entrusted to detect potential terrorists in our midst.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Fort Hood shooter, the Boston Marathon bombers, the Pulse night club shooter in Orlando, the San Bernardino husband-and-wife attackers; the car, truck, knife, and acid attacks; as well as the far too common sexual assaults against women, children and men have been a steady reminder that America’s slight loss of freedom is absolutely necessary in order to maintain even a modicum of personal security against this ongoing threat.

Our lives will never be the same again and it’s not just because of the ever-increasing Islamic terrorism that is taking place both in America and throughout the globe. It’s also significantly due to our nation’s liberal politicians and leftist judges who continue to push indefensible open-borders immigration policies and who refuse to acknowledge the grave risk that travelers can pose to America when they are allowed to fly into the United States without being subjected to an extreme vetting process beforehand.

That said, we shouldn’t single out primarily Muslim countries for extreme vetting and potential future travel bans. That’s a simple-minded solution that would be both completely unwarranted and highly ineffectual because the problem has now spread and has gone far deeper.

First, let’s acknowledge that there truly are many wonderful, kind, caring and loving people of the Islamic faith who should be able to travel into our country without any close scrutiny whatsoever. Just like there are also many American citizens who should be able to write an email, make a phone call or fly on an airplane without any close scrutiny whatsoever — but that’s just not the world we are currently living in.

Is it fair? No.

Is it necessary? Yes.

The reason we shouldn’t single out mostly Muslim countries for extreme vetting has to do with the fact that potential terrorists can come from anywhere around the world and could possibly belong to any faith, race or political belief system.

Even if our leaders ever did wish to institute a future Muslim travel ban, we would then need to also closely scrutinize the people coming into America from other Western countries, such as our good neighbor Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Those countries’ questionably chosen immigration policies came with a wide variety of unintended consequences as they are now well aware — even if they do continue to publicly declare, “diversity is our strength.”

We need to positively know the identities of everyone seeking to enter our country along with their arrest records, potentially problematic affiliations and their actual likely purpose for desiring entry into the U.S.

Every single one of us needs to accept the fact we are going to be suffering these unfortunate indignities as long as there are potential terrorists and criminals from all faiths and countries who are plotting to travel or migrate into the United States to do us harm.

What we don’t need are liberal, bleeding-heart politicians and leftist, judicial-activist judges impeding our ability to keep us safe from those whom President George W. Bush once aptly described as “evil doers,” whose greatest desire is to destroy our country and to steal every last bit of freedom we are still able to enjoy.

Islamic terrorists succeeded in bringing down the Twin Towers, and in taking well over 3,000 lives in the United States since 9/11 — but the battle is ongoing and is far from over.

We must never forget Sept. 11, 2001, and the many people who died that day. We must also continue to give our thanks and material support to our U.S. military personnel and also to the many volunteers who have subsequently lost their lives as a result of their brave and selfless efforts in helping to save others and to clear out the rubble and the debris left from the Twin Towers collapse.

Americans are winners by our very nature. We weren’t just handed our American privilege — it continues to be earned by every American soldier and by the American citizens who wake up each day committed to do their very best to create and perpetuate the beauty and dignity we have uniquely created throughout this portion of the Western world.

Despite our loathsome enemies’ best efforts, the United States of America remains as President Ronald Reagan once described it, “a shining city on the hill.”

Some things will never change. (For more from the author of “Leftists Are Putting Us at Risk of Another 9/11” please click HERE)