We are not gathered together at this place to discuss cause and causation. For there is no just cause that allows the wholesale slaughter of our countrymen, at any time, for any reason. And all the empty rhetoric about causation of mass murder, is an irrelevance and a distraction from today’s mission.

We are not gathered here at this place to discuss justice or justification. There is never justification for the premeditated attack on innocents, unarmed and not engaged in battle. The wheels of justice will not roll past the gravity of this heinous offense, in order to leave skid marks on the landscape of common sense and dignity.

We are gathered at this place to honor what we hold most dear. Unity of purpose, unity of motive, unity of intent and unity of pride. We are the UNITED States of America and we will not be bowed by atrocity or attrition of that unity.

The innocents who were murdered by an enemy within our gates will not be brushed aside so easily this time, so cavalierly hurled upon the pyre of victims forgotten in the rush to absolve judgment.

We do judge today. We judge ourselves and find ourselves wanting. The plot outlining this atrocity was avoidable, preventable, discoverable and it was missed. There shall be no next time. We must get it right this time.

We judge our enemy and we find them wanting. We seek peace in all corners of the globe, from all residents on our shared planet. Yet, when our enemies reject the notion of peace, and replace it with blind hatred, their empty pleas for understanding of their cause and causation should fall on deaf ears.

We failed this time, to identify and isolate a mass murderer in our midst. We will not fail again. And we are united in our defense of every single countryman, no matter whether civilian or soldier. We won’t leave anyone behind. Not this time. Not ever again.