2001-10-29T14:55:00.000-08:00

Any comments on the ideas in this article please email me, Mike Stanton

This article was written on Tuesday 2nd October before the bombing began and published in the Cincinnati Post as a guest column under the title, "Justice is Needed to Fight Terrorism" on Monday 15th October

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER!

Like all Americans we are badly shaken, and still in a state of shock and disbelief! How could this terrible tragedy, an attack of such magnitude, happen to our nation, the mightiest on earth? As former New Yorkers, we especially grieve for the city where we were born, raised, educated and married. Long held assumptions about our safety and security are gone. It is a new world for all of us in the United States. We had thought that we were immune from the violence experienced by other, less fortunate nations. But this is no longer the case. September 11th has shattered that assumption and shown that, despite all our military and economic power, we, too, are vulnerable to attack,

We salute the real patriots, as usual, the workers, the fire fighters, police officers, ironworkers, construction workers, rescue workers and volunteer workers, all putting in incredibly long hours, risking, and in too many cases, giving us their own lives, in an
attempt to stem the carnage and save as many lives as possible. We are heartened by the support that has been pouring in from all over the country. We are all New Yorkers and Washingtonians, now! That is the true meaning of the showing of the flag;. we are all Americans, in this together.

In attempting to understand how this horror could have happened, a few things come to mind. One is the massive failure and misuse of our intelligence services which spent decades spying on and infiltrating the civil rights, peace, women's and black power movements. They harassed Martin Luther King, Jr., calling him, "the most notorious liar in America." Yet, these same intelligence services did not have a clue about a terrorist attack that has been in the planning stages for years, carried out by individuals who lived and were trained in flight schools in the United States. Internationally, our intelligence services have been very busy training and supporting terrorists for sabotage in countries deemed "unfriendly" to the United States, as part of their "cold war" strategy. Osama bin Laden, called the "prime suspect" in the attacks
on New York and Washington, was a CIA operative, hailed as a "freedom fighter" when he fought with the U.S. supported mujahedeen against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Our intelligence services have sponsored terrorism against Nicaragua, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama,
Chile, Columbia, and the Congo, to name just a few countries.. Now, these same terrorists are coming back to haunt us!

Another hard truth that we Americans have to face is, that, in much of the underdeveloped world, the United States, while envied and admired, is, at the same time, deeply resented and even hated. Many of the people in these countries blame us for their poverty and
misery. They resent our trade policies, our support for dictatorial ,oppressive and occupation regimes, our sponsorship of crippling economic sanctions. that lead to starvation for innocent civilians,, and the projection of U.S. military power, often used unilaterally, around the world. Does this justify terrorism? Of course not, but it is the breeding ground in which hopelessness and desperation breed individuals who can commit such terrible acts.

What should be the American response? How can we prevent such a horrendous attack on our national soil from ever happening again? The immediate response is a military one, to seek revenge., to declare war, to kill someone, bomb somewhere! But who and where? We still do not know who were behind these attacks. We have only suspects! The actual perpetrators have already perished,. Should be bomb Afghanistan, or the Taliban, as we euphemistically call what would be the bombing of an entire nation.

A Jesuit priest friend of ours recently received a letter from an Afghan American who says of the proposal to bomb Afghanistan back to the Stone Age, "Trouble with that scheme, it's already been done! Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering! . Level their houses? Done! Turn their houses into piles of rubble? Done! . Turn their schools into piles of rubble?. Done! Eradicate their hospitals? Done! Destroy their infrastructure? There is no infrastructure! New bombs would only land in the rubble of earlier bombs! Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely! In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban have the means to move around. They'd slip away and hide.. The United Nations has estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan. Maybe the bombs would get some of them. They don't move
too fast.; they don't even have wheelchairs!. Flying over Kabul and dropping some bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing, Actually, it would be making common cause with the Taliban - by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time." In addition, such retaliatory strikes have resulted almost invariably in escalating countermeasures by terrorist groups, and would provide fertile ground for the development of a new generation of terrorists. The hydra-headed monster of terrorism feeds on the unrestrained use of military force by the powerful against the weak!

Targeting people of Arab ancestry and of the Moslem faith is certainly not the way to go. There are terrorists from every background and religious persuasion, and plenty of home- grown ones, as Oklahoma City has demonstrated. Restrict civil liberties? Our liberties and democratic heritage are the true strength of America!.

What then can be do? Cut off the flow of money to the terrorist networks? A good start! Develop alliances with other nations and formulate a collective strategy to combat terrorism? Absolutely essential, but not helped by American withdrawal from the Kyoto and ABM treaties! Utilize the United Nations? Imperative, but not helped by the U.S. long- term refusal to pay our debts to that institution! More difficult will be a much needed reassessment
of American foreign policy from one based on military might and economic exploitation, to one which will support economic justice, the legitimate rights of people struggling for national independence, democratic rights for all people, and a commitment to the eradication of hunger, disease and poverty. This is the only way we can truly fight and eliminate terrorism!

Judith and Herbert Shapiro

Peace in Afghanistan