9-11 Part 1

This morning, apparent terrorist attacks occurred in New York City, Washington and Pittsburgh. Hundreds if not thousands will have lost their lives and thousands more will have been injured in the attacks. The first attacks occurred just minutes apart from each other as allegedly hijacked commercial airliners collided with both towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Minutes later another commercial airliner was crashed into the Pentagon in Washington. Then, about an hour later there was a report of yet another commercial airliner crashing in a suburban Pittsburgh area. At this point, Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind such terrorist attacks as those at US installations in Italy and Nigeria has claimed he is not responsible. In fact a group with “Palestinian” in it's name has claimed responsibility. Conflicting reports and confusion have ruled the morning.

That's the news, but what does it mean? America is the most powerful country in the world. It's just that simple. But with that power comes responsibility and ultimately the consequences that power brings. Our people have been the victims of foreign terrorists for years, both on foreign soil and here at home. Why?

That is a question that seemingly, if answered, could lead to an end of the terrorism or a better understanding of when attacks will occur. But the answers are many and complex.

First of all, we are a nation who is viewed as being very immoral. Our religious freedoms allow us to worship which religion we choose or to choose no religion at all. In many countries around the world, the state is run by religion and there are no choices. Governments of very fundamentalist religious factions run many of these countries. To them, the worship and service of their supreme being is far more honorable than life itself. And their disdain of the “west” leads them to terrorist acts. If that sounds like a contradiction of faith, it is. And it seems that the more we point that out, the more it pushes the fundamentalists into these actions. In the case of the Taliban, sharp contrasts between their beliefs and those of the west bring anger and hostility. When that anger and hostility is funded by billionaires such as Bin Laden, then terrorist acts of enormous magnitude can occur.

Second, despite the economic reports we hear on a daily basis, the US is a very prosperous nation. Our land is blessed with vast amounts of natural resources, fertile land and a climate that is ideal for growing nearly any crop needed. Not every country is blessed in these ways. Of course the Middle East has the huge oil reserves, but the land is arid and not suited to crop cultivation. Much of Europe is mountainous and what is not, is crowded with people. Southern Asia and Africa suffer from droughts of enormous and deadly proportions. Through trade and loans, the US has given these countries loans and food for years with little hope of ever recouping any of the money. So the US has entered into agreements such as NAFTA and the World Trade Organization which bring globalization into reach. Globalization can lower tariffs and bring products that we don't have to us for lower prices. These lower prices lead, however, to low wages in other countries and the cycle of the “haves” and the “have nots” continues. As witnessed by the riots that accompany any WTO conference, globalization of the economy is not necessarily desired.

Finally, of course there is simple jealousy of the US for the already mentioned reasons. And let me make the point here that while the death toll from today's actions will be greater than the Oklahoma City bombing, it is, to me, a less heinous crime since that was an act brought about by an American who thought himself to be a “patriot”. Today's act's are clearly un-American, paid for and perpetrated by foreign agents. Surely, if everything the reports are saying about hijacking is true, then there are Americans that had to be involved and those people are far worse than the foreign states or individuals who financed or perpetrated these acts.

So what happens now? If the Palestinians are responsible what are they trying to accomplish? Do they honestly think these acts will cause us to persuade Israel to move off the West Bank and give them a country? What happened today will have the opposite effect. American reaction should be swift and severe and the dream of legitimate, law abiding Palestinians of a homeland should be wiped from their thoughts. If the Taliban or Osama Bin Laden are responsible, then the US should demand his extradition. Once. Then if the same lack of cooperation persists, we use the military to go get him. Acts such as these bring Americans close. What other countries think of us will be of little concern for quite some time. Does this mean we should be kicking out all of the foreigners from the US. Absolutely not. Most are hard working, law abiding citizens. But as happened back in 1990 when the Gulf War brought America together, many foreign born Americans will suffer. That may not be right, but when events such as today's occur, it is to be expected.