America's War on Terrorism

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To a Fellow American:

Please excuse me for intervening in your discussion.  But this a time for as much serious communication as possible on the tragedy that we have just experienced, so I believe we are all warranted in sharing our views.  

You seem to be trying to turn this into a debate over whether the recent terrorist attacks are justified or not, a debate you would surely win, if someone were arguing that point.  But no one I know of is arguing that.  What is being argued is the fact that events do not happen in a vacuum in all human relations and they are very often fraught with misunderstanding and reactions based on these misunderstandings.  A great deal of misunderstanding simply arises from lack of information, misinformation, or partial and selective information that merely supports what one is already committed to believing, regardless of what is reasonable.

About 12 years ago Congress finally reacted to the terrible conduct of the CIA around the world that made many enemies of people who were not previously our enemies and for backing other true enemies who oppose everything we stand for.  The Congress severely curtailed the power and activities of this renegade organization (the CIA) that acted independently of the will and welfare of the American people. Unfortunately, 40 years of these abuses leave their deep scars and it takes generations for these to heal.  In addition to the very destructive activities of the CIA, our government has otherwise often not acted "prudently" in foreign policy, to borrow Bush senior's term, (he was director of the CIA at its most corrupt), and we have helped set the stage for many of the problems we are experiencing now: for example:  
We helped Sadam Hussein come to power and stay there a decade before we went after him for getting out of line.  We provided him with billions of dollars in illegal agricultural loans so he could buy expensive weapons from us and other allies of ours.  This was part of our strategy to counter Iran.  We backed Marcos in the Philippines (giving him billions in aid that he used personally, while he suppressed democracy).  We backed Pinocet in Chile who committed some of the worst atrocities.  We backed some of the worst dictators in African history on that continent.  We trained and funded the Salvadoran military and government whose death squads tortured and murdered tens of thousands of non guerilla Salvadoran citizens.  We backed Pakistani dictator Gen. Zia-ul Haq in creating thousands of religious schools from which the germs of Taliban in Afghanistan emerged, not to mention the CIA backing of Osama Bin Laden.  It was a huge mistake! to back these people against the Russians when we could have backed far more moderate Islamic factions.  We gave them millions of dollars and weapons including 20 of our most sophisticated ground to air missiles (which were never used against the Russians, they still have them and someday 20 planes full of innocent Americans could die due to this stupidity of the CIA).  These ruthless fundamentalists have brutalized their own people constantly.  We made it possible for them to come to power.  They assassinated the much more moderate Islamic leaders we should have backed. These butchers could never have succeeded if we had not intervened.  No one is defending the actions of such barbaric people.  The question is why we backed them when we knew exactly what kind of people they were.  Now we only look at the terrorist acts they have committed upon us and ignore that we are largely responsible for their rise to power.  They used us, used ou! r stupid cold war ideological blindness.  People in the CIA and in our government generally have made some very bad decisions in the past 50 years.  Many of them see it now (for example, MacNamara and others in guilt ridden books of confession).  We backed corrupt regimes all over the world, regardless of their brutal, anti democratic behavior.  It is a huge scandal and a swindle of our way of life, our principles of justice, and our valuing of human life.  Our own government sold out those principles, sold us out.  They violated national sovereignties many times, economies were disrupted, unnecessary invasions such as Panama have occurred repeatedly (which was not about Noriega.  That was an excuse.  Noriega was in power because we put him there).  Many people have been assassinated by the CIA, tens of thousands of others have died due to our policies. The world is largely a world we and the Russians have created.  It is up to! us to remedy the problem, but not with the same mindless stupidity we repeatedly displayed before.  We will not rid the world of terrorism that way.  We will only engender a whole new generation of young minds fertile for indoctrination by the worst kinds of distorted terrorist propaganda.  They are the worst kind of people, but they have facts and evidence on their side when they impregnate young minds with their poison.  We gave them those facts.   

This is not an argument about the pros and cons of terrorism.  Terrorism has been universally condemned, even by Castro and Arafat.  The issue you have entirely missed is crucial at this juncture and our actions will determine the next century of world history.  To understand how things have developed is not a justification.  It is the first step in preventing it.  The famous quote from American Historian Georg Santayana is once again apt: "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it."

In this current situation, we need to differentiate between the people of Afghanistan and a handful of fundamentalist terrorists who we helped come to power.  We must pursue them and not harm innocent people, otherwise we are no better than those we condemn for harming innocent Americans.  Innocent Americans should not have to pay for the sins of our government any more than innocent Afghans should pay for the sins of a government we help come to power. The difference is that Americans have an opportunity every two, four, and six years to vote out those who support and help perpetrate acts inconsistent with our principles.  As always ignorance is the real enemy.  WAKE UP America!

The atrocities in NY and Washington are to be condemned in the strongest terms. But justice and reason, not revenge should guide us, lest we forsake our own most cherished principles...then we really do lose.  Just as we can take credit for being the greatest nation in the world, we must also take responsibility for the many terrible things we have perpetrated as well, in the name of our often rather senseless means/end ideologies and policies over the last 40 years that have little to do with our principles.   It is in part these policies that have led to the recent tragedy.  We cannot excuse what happened, but we can understand why many people in the world saw this as a comeuppance. Let us conduct ourselves in a manner that does not invite such atrocities and then when they do happen, we will clearly have the moral high ground when we act to rid the world of such atrocities and terrorism.

For now, we can only sympathize with those harmed by the horror we witnessed and become unified as Americans to resolve to stop this kind of thing.  But we must also resolve to live up to our own principles and standards.  Yes, we were heroes during and after the 2nd World War and many other ways in our history.  But far too much of what we have done is shameful and Congress acknowledged this in curtailing the power of the CIA.  Let us be very careful not to commit the sins of our past, but look to our most noble moments as a guide to the future.  

This is a different world now, just as it was a different world after Pearl Harbor.  The rest of world history will turn on what we do next, how we do it, and what judgment we exercise.  That judgment must be made in light of our best principles of justice AND how badly we often failed to live up to them in the past 40 years.   

Surveillance and intelligence using the best technologies, not brute force, is the proper path with this new kind of warfare, then careful pursuit of those responsible for these atrocities, without injuring the innocent.  Two wrongs don't make a right.  We could wind up fanning the flames of hate and terrorism in those who have no other means to strike out at what they feel is wrong.  This can lead to an increasingly hard line on our part, more and more of a police state, and the loss of our own liberties. Instead, we must put out the flames of terrorism and prove to everyone, especially those we have wronged in the past, that we are both mighty and just. We are the leader of the world.  Let us lead with our wisdom, not our brute power.  Let us live and act according to our own best principles and use our power wisely and justly.

It is not easy to suffer what we have, the worst tragedy on American soil (other than the Civil War), and still act with equanimity, intelligence, and fairness.  We are capable of it. We have demonstrated our nobility many times.  This time is perhaps the most crucial of all because of its implications for the rest of human history.

I do not oppose you.  Rather, I ask you to join with all Americans and take responsibility and live up to our own principles and truly be the great nation and leaders of the world we can be.  I only ask you to think carefully and remain open.  We are united in our condemnation of terrorism.  Let us work together to make this a better world, not just business as usual.  Out of tragedy and adversity can come wisdom.  Let us not pass up this opportunity. President Bush was right when he said this is a test.  Let us rise to the occasion and pass the test.

 I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the  Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this would  mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this  atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What  else can we do?"  Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether  we "have the belly to do what must be done."

 And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from   Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I'm standing.

 I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done about those monsters.

 But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan.  They're not even the government of Afghanistan.  The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan.  When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps."   It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators.

 They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country. Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering.  A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. There are millions of widows.  And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves.  The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets.  These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban.

 We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already.  Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble?  Done.  Eradicate their hospitals?   Done.

 Destroy their infrastructure?   Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that.

 New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs.  Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around.  They'd slip away and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing.

 Actually it would only be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time.  So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops. When people speak of "having the belly to do what needs to be done" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by?

 You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a world war between Islam and the West.

 And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants. That's why he did this.  Read his speeches and statements. It's all right there.  He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers.  If the west wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point of view.  He's probably wrong, in the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that?

 Bin Laden does. Anyone else?

Tamim Ansary

ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND THE WTC DISASTER:
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE FORCE BEHIND THE U.S. ATROCITIES JUST ASK: WHO BENEFITS?

"Nothing would be what it is, Because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise -what it is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" - Alice in Wonderland.

By David Icke

The force that seeks to control this world and introduce its global fascist state, the network I call the Illuminati, is nothing if not predictable.

The unbelievable horror perpetrated on the cities of New York and Washington is a problem-reaction-solution sting on the collective mind of all humanity and I have been expecting an event of this magnitude for some years. I thought it could be a war or a nuclear "terrorist" device, but something fantastic was always going to happen during the years of the Bush presidency when, as I wrote on inauguration day, the agenda would be pressed forward with a gathering pace.

(To clarify, Problem -Reaction-Solution is a phenomenon whereby the governing bodies of a region have a predetermined agenda that they wish to implement i.e. cameras in the streets, and they manufacture public consent by either creating an incident or simply using the media to highlight an existing problem so that the public cries out and demands that "Something must be done about this! What are you (our leaders) going to do about it?"

For example, say the governing body wants cameras in the streets, well they can't just go out and put them up on every street corner without cause, as every freedom loving citizen would complain of the beginning of a military police state. So they create incidents or simply use the media to highlight existing crime thereby distorting the publics perception of the safety of their neighborhoods. People cry out and demand action and the governing body goes ahead and executes its intended plan, not just with public consent but at the publics request. To understand how the American media distorts our perception of the safety of our streets just ask 100 people what they believe the incidence of violent crime is in the U.S.. People surveyed believed it was somewhere between 3% and 10% when in actuality it is only 1/10th of 1%!! The media machine has us convinced that our streets are 30 to 100 times more dangerous than they actually are. And we demand protection in light of this distorted reality. Back to the article)

Fast as the world was being moved towards global centralized fascism, it was still not fast enough to match the timescale demanded by the Illuminati agenda. And the opposition to their globalization plans and their assaults on freedom, was gathering by the day. It was clear that something of enormous magnitude was being orchestrated that would so devastate the collective human mind with fear, horror, and insecurity, that "solutions" could be offered that would advance the agenda in a colossal leap almost overnight. This is what we saw in America on the ritually-significant eleventh day of the ninth month - 911 is the number for emergencies in the United States. Ritual and esoteric codes are at the heart of everything the Illuminati undertakes.

And, mind-numbing as these atrocities are, this is the start, not the end, of the next cycle of the Illuminati agenda for the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical imprisonment of humankind. More and more death and destruction will unfold as the "Free World" unites as an (in affect) world army and world government to use the threat of "terrorism" (their own) to justify a war against the people and countries they choose to take the rap for what the very forces WITHIN the "free world" are themselves responsible for. Even war with the Islamic peoples is not the end, but the means to an end - a conflict with the remaining forces of communism, which they also control. Remember that the Illuminati operate through every country and within "terrorist" organizations and those agencies which "oppose" such terrorism. Only by having agents within all "sides" can they be sure of controlling the game and knowing the outcome before it starts. The Illuminati have operatives within the Islamic world, just as they have them in the so-called "free world", as we shall see in the months to come. Saddam Hussein is every bit as much a knowing Illuminati pawn as Father George and Boy George Bush in America, for example.

The predictability of the ritualistic, emotionless, mind that orchestrated these events can be seen in the news management that has followed this U.S. disaster. Look at what always happens in these circumstances and you will see that the blueprint is the same in almost every case. Before the event happens the fall-guy or "patsy" is already set up to take the blame, thus steering the public mind away from dangerous speculation and onto a preordained target. After the Kennedy assassination it was Lee Harvey Oswald; after Oklahoma it was Timothy McVeigh; now it is Osama Bin Laden.

Bin Laden, deeply misguided as he may be, is no more responsible for what happened this week than I am. His name was introduced with the most obvious coordination immediately after the disaster unfolded in the same way that the background to Lee Harvey Oswald was being circulated BEFORE President Kennedy was even dead.

The idea that this guy from the mountains of Afghanistan with far more mouth than substance could be the "Mr. Big" of this enormous operation is utterly insulting to anyone of even basic intelligence (see the article by journalist Robert Fisk, who has met him). We are not talking a parcel bomb here, nor even some mind-controlled fanatic driving a car bomb into a restaurant in Jerusalem. Four commercial airliners had to be simultaneously hijacked in American air space via American airports and flown into highly specific targets within 45 minutes of each other. How was this possible? Because it was an inside job, that's how, orchestrated by forces WITHIN the United States and planned by the highest levels of U.S. "Intelligence" in coordination with other strands of the Illuminati spider's web worldwide.

With an army now of mind-controlled assets at their disposal, it is possible to get them to do anything they require once the mind is programmed and the trigger given to activate them. Those responsible for hijacking those planes and flying them into buildings will, in their conscious mind, have believed in the "cause" they were programmed to believe in. But in truth they were not hijacking and flying those planes, their programming was. Mind control is now so sophisticated that such programming is almost child's play.

This terror was not a failure of U.S. Intelligence for God's sake. They were not supposed to uncover the plot and getting weapons onto planes is so much easier if you have support from those who control the system. I have heard that this is another "Pearl Harbor" and yes it is. You can read in ..And The Truth Shall Set You Free and other books and studies how the American government knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor, but they did nothing about it. Why? Because they wanted it to happen for a specific reason - to justify the U.S. entry into the Second World War, which President Roosevelt (a blood relative of the Bushes) had said, just to get elected, that America would not be involved in. Problem-reaction-solution - and it's the same with the terrible events of this week.

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the "pin it on bin Laden" campaign was launched as per prearranged plan. The Republican Senator and Illuminati stooge, Orrin Hatch, for example, told CNN that he had high-level information from the FBI that bin Laden was behind the unprecedented attacks. "I do have some information," Hatch said in reference to his FBI briefing. "They've come to the conclusion that this looks like it may be the signature of Osama bin Laden, that he may be the one behind this." It's OK, don't go on, Orrin, we get the message and you have done your job.

Then we had the story of the hire car found so conveniently at Boston airport, where two planes were hijacked, which contained…yes…wait for it…a copy of the Koran and an instruction video for how to fly commercial jets!!! Am I in fairyland or what? I am surprised they did not claim to have discovered a letter from bin Laden in the car wishing the occupants the best of luck with their task. Maybe they plan to "find" that tomorrow, eh? It's unbelievable nonsense, of course it is, but most will believe it. And you will see more and more manufactured "evidence" of the "bin Laden connection" systematically revealed in the days and weeks ahead.

So, the question: Who benefits? Well, the Illuminati want a world government and army, a world currency and centralized global financial dictatorship and control. They want micro-chipped people and a society based on constant surveillance of all kinds at all times. And they want a frightened, docile, subservient, people who give their power away to the "authorities" who can save them from what they have been manipulated to fear.

Funnily enough the question "who benefits from these horrific events in America?" can be answered very simply: Anyone who wants to introduce the above. The disaster of 9-11, means that: . . . . .

ˇ The Illuminati now have the excuse to retaliate against anyone their propaganda machine can manipulate the population to believe was to blame. Attacks against Islamic targets have the potential to be the trigger for massive conflict and upheaval across the world and especially in the Middle and Near East. The opportunities to then widen the conflict to involve Russia and China are endless. A third world war is part of the agenda and this can open the way for that as the dominoes fall. . .

ˇ The "free world united with America" rhetoric from Blair and other "world leaders" is code for coming together as a world army and police force to fight a "war against terrorism". Already the Bilderberg-controlled NATO (the world army in waiting) has pledged such support and the collective consciousness is being manipulated so comprehensively at this time that most people will support American and NATO terrorist attacks on unsubstantiated targets in the name of fighting terrorism. The stunning contradiction in this policy will be lost on the majority blinded by the blatant and intense mind manipulation that has followed the outrages in those U.S. cities.

ˇ As conflict escalates as a result of such calculated "retaliation" the pressure for centralization of military power and the willingness to concede that power by the populations of America and elsewhere will gather until the world army is in place, a world army with the power to attack and take over any country that their propaganda machine can demonize.

ˇ The collective mind of humanity, and particularly that of America, is understandably now in a deeply traumatized state. They have been subjected to collective trauma-based mind control and, as any mind controller or researcher can tell you, a traumatized mind is a suggestible mind. So in the wake of the trauma comes the programming to manipulate the population to see events in the desired fashion.

ˇ One of the biggest potential obstacles to the "New World Order", the centrally-controlled fascist global state, is the psyche of most American people. When faced with the prospect of giving up their right of self-determination to global military, political, and financial control, most would be vehemently opposed once they realized what was happening. Their collective sense of security, confidence, and pride in their nation and system has been built on the foundations of immense military and financial strength. It is a collective version of the John Wayne mentality - "don't mess with us - this is America." From that has come their collective confidence in themselves as a nation. Now that very sense of who they are, and their belief that they have the power to stand alone, is in danger of being devastated.

ˇ It is absolutely no coincidence that the targets of those hijacked planes were the very symbols of America's sense of itself and its own security - the Pentagon, symbol of their military might, and the World Trade Center, twin pillars of their financial might. This is not primarily an attack on America, it is an attack on America's image and imagination of itself. Break their spirit and their sense of being "American"; break America's confidence in itself; put it in fear and fundamental insecurity; and you have overcome the most significant opposition to America allowing itself to be absorbed into the Illuminati's global and centrally-dictated society. The American psyche will now be bombarded with more and more shocks to its security and sense of self, as with Oklahoma and the school shootings in the past. But from now on everything will be increased dramatically. It is vital that Americans refuse to submit to this and realize that those who are condemning the terrorism in their midst are those who are responsible for it.

ˇ When I first traveled America in 1996, I was staggered at what a controlled society the "Land of the Free" really was (though still not as bad as Canada). Now in the wake of this tragedy, the United States, and other countries, are set to become a fortress of invasive surveillance and, what's more, because of what has happened, the American people will not utter a significant word of protest at the rapid expansion of this Big Brother society. Problem-reaction-solution. Watch for micro-chipping of people to be suggested to "stop the terrorists".

ˇ An economic disaster has long been predicted by those who have exposed and studied the Illuminati agenda. To overcome resistance to single currencies and central control of global finance, they need a world economic crash that will destroy the present system and kid the people into accepting centralized global control as the only way to overcome the crash. Problem-reaction-solution. This is another reason why these attacks struck in the very heart of America's economic system - and why in the days before the carnage the talk of a global economic recession was plastered across the world media. Now they have a blank sheet of paper with the chance to justify such a collapse and you will see global economic bodies brought in to "coordinate a response to the economic crisis". Indeed the G7 grouping of nations has already begun this process.

These are just a few of the "benefits" to the agenda from the death and destruction in New York and Washington that was, I repeat, coordinated by forces within U.S. borders. Those responsible are possessed by a dark force and have no regard for human life any more than most humans have regard for the death and suffering of cattle. The possessed mind has an undeveloped emotional level and therefore there is no emotional consequence for them no matter to what depths of horror and depravity they may sink. You only had to watch the emotionless, going-through-the-motions, reading the script, responses of George W. Bush and Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister, in the face of such immense suffering to see an example of this. It was in the class of the Queen of England after the murder of Princess Diana. At least Reagan was a professional actor. Bush and Blair wouldn't get in a school play.

Did George W. Bush know that these devastating disasters were going to happen that day? What do you think?? Did Tony Blair? What do you think?? But even they are only pawns in a game controlled by far greater powers and they are as expendable as anyone once they have served their purpose. Personally I would not be surprised in the least if Bush was sacrificed eventually to advance the "global terrorism" scenario, and perhaps someone very close to Blair also. And, of course, if Bush does go, the new President would be the serial killer, Dick Cheney. The stakes are going to be stacked very high indeed from this point because the final push to global fascism has begun.

The world will never be the same again, that's true, but within every danger there is opportunity. And for those of us, the vast majority, who seek peace not conflict, freedom-for-all, not dictatorship-by-the-few, now have to look ourselves in the mirror and ask what we are going to do to stop these lunatics from taking over their asylum.

Complaining is not good enough any more. Running is no longer an option because soon there will be nowhere to run. It is time to lift the arse (that's "ass" or "Bush" to Americans) from the chair and let's stop sitting down and taking this shit. People can bombard the radio phone-ins with another version of reality and when they cut you off get back again and again; tell everyone you know where they can get information to give them another fix on what is really happening; send this and other articles on these subjects to everyone you know through e-mail, fax, or post; organize PEACEFUL protests against the fascist state whenever freedoms are threatened; get people together at meetings to discuss and assimilate information the media will not tell you;

LOSE FEAR AND BE IRREVERENT IN THE FACE OF THIS ARROGANT DICTATORSHIP. IT CAN ONLY SURVIVE IF WE ARE FRIGHTENED OF IT AND INTIMIDATED BY IT

There is so much we can do if only we first decide that we want to dedicate our lives to this with an unbreakable determination that will not concede to any level of intimidation or consequences.

The Dragon is nothing like as powerful as they want us to believe it is.

Come on, what are we waiting for?
- LET'S GO.

Remember: NO FEAR!!

David Icke

An Eye For An Eye And The World Ends Up Blind

I don't believe in waiting to be attacked either.  On the other hand, I hope no one thinks that once all the existing terrorists are dead (If that's possible), then there will no longer be terrorists on this planet anymore.

The long term fight is against religious biases, cultural/racial discriminations, oppressions of poor countries by rich countries/corporations, injustices perpetuated by those with financial/military power, and various forms of intolerances.

Some say terrorists are those who hate others because they are different, if so, then Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson fit the definition squarely.  They are the ones who caused some unthinking people to kill those innocent Americans who simply look like Muslims.

Retransmitted as a courtesy by MERGINET.com

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on America,
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Healing From Terrorism Sickness

Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.

In terrorism, the numbers of persons affected are huge; terrorism is *meant* to affect thousands and millions of people -- all at the same time. Most think terrorists' main aim is to kill people and destroy installations. This is only secondary. (Yes, I know that sounds unbelievable, but it is so.) The main goal of terrorism is "intentional trauma" to the living. The murder and mayhem are SECONDARY goals.

The concept of doing ongoing psychic injury to thousands and millions "all at the same time" is an important tactic of terrorists. Terrorists understand, if only in their diseased unconscious's, that accomplishing such will unleash a greater communicable and spreading "psychic infection" than any biological or germ warfare could ever hope to achieve.

This "infection" that terrorists hope to circulate is that of innocent persons becoming afraid of life, afraid of the future; of causing people to put off the living of life, to move in ways that are far less than their previous free selves. The effect of living in such a crouch hurts the human spirit and heart. The main goal of terrorism is "intentional sychological trauma." Murder and mayhem are only secondary and sometimes even tertiary goals. Terrorism is willful psychological assault; a conscious and planned assault against the minds and hearts and spirits of a large group of persons. I repeat this only if it be necessary to press past the reader's ego's resistance to this hideous truth: In terrorism, murder and mayhem are secondary to this primary goal of ruining the hearts and hopes of others. This is partly why terrorism is difficult to comprehend by reasoned minds as anything but the most grotesque form of manifest evil. We can barely conceive of thinking to psychically injure others so.

There are other secondary goals to terrorism. Any and all of them are the sickest imaginable. But the above is how terrorists seek to cast their net of sickness" over all survivors and victims, over the living -- by trying to deprive you of esperanza, fullest and freely felt Hope. By trying to limit your libre, your Freedom, your living life as a completely free person, shoulders proud, head up, mind on goodness and love for all and pleasures that bring peace and happiness.

The "post-trauma recovery list" contains the central ways to proceed. Here are some additional that are very specific: It is peculiar to find how strongly that poisonous net holds when one is unaware of what it is made of, and how easily it falls apart when one consciously begins to contradict its malicious urgings:

1) Refuse to dwell on what psychically depletes you of hope, contentment and ease. During post-trauma times, sometimes an extremely difficult or disheartening set of thoughts attach themselves to us; almost like a gang cruising around looking to harass someone. Terrorists are counting on this to happen to many. Refuse this set of thoughts. Use the discipline of your mind. Say to them, "f-off! and I mean it!" If you are an old believer like me, it is as effective to assert, "Get thee behind me!" My grandmother used to say, "Just because someone presents you with a dog poop on a pretty plate doesn't mean you have to eat it."

2) Dwell in what strengthens you. For some it is reading, others physical activity, others, crafts. There are so many things and combinations of things. Remember, what brings you peace tends to be the same as what strengthens you.

3) Clean up your kitchen around food especially, (time to give your body what it needs for its equilibrium and best strength now). Do not assault your own body by making it work extra hard to throw off toxins now.

4) Rest (real rest, even if only a few hours at night, even if, like many are, awakening many times in the night, do not entertain "bad thoughts," do not allow yourself to fall into a pit of them. Think instead of the greatest beauty and love you know, discipline your mind to stay with those images; they are medicine for what has hurt you. The key words are 'practice discipline.' If you do not know how to discipline your mind, think of how you train a beloved dog to stay and heel. Proceed.)

5) Insofar as you are able, pick your endeavors carefully. Now is an opportunity to drop various endeavors that deplete you or to join up with people/ matters/groups that invigorate.

6) Refuse to think you are less able than you were last week. You are not less.   Regardless of flaws, quirks or wobbles, you are in soul, actually more shining than you were a week ago.

7) With regard to goodness and things that are good for you and others, do what you always do. Do not cease goodness or pleasures that bring good.

8) Continue to implement life dreams. If you don't have one, you're overdue. Get out your thinking cap.

9) Use your intuition to guide you through these days. It will not fail you. Some call this great gift that every person possesses--insight, some call it sense," some like us old believers, call it guardian Angel--which for me incidentally is no small little feathery thing flapping around, but more-- sort of like a fierce-gentle Guido with wings. (grin.)

From: Dr. Tony Kern, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)


Recently, I was asked to look at the recent events through the lens of military history. I have joined the cast of thousands who have written an "open letter to Americans."


Dear friends and fellow Americans 14 September, 2001


Like everyone else in this great country, I am reeling from last week's attack on our sovereignty. But unlike some, I am not reeling from surprise. As a career soldier and a student and teacher of military history, I have a different perspective and I think you should hear it. This war will be won or lost by the American citizens, not diplomats, politicians or soldiers.

Let me briefly explain.

In spite of what the media, and even our own government is telling us, this act was not committed by a group of mentally deranged fanatics. To dismiss them as such would be among the gravest of mistakes. This attack was committed by a ferocious, intelligent and dedicated adversary. Don't take this the wrong way. I don't admire these men and I deplore their tactics, but I respect their capabilities. The many parallels that have been made with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are apropos. Not only because it was a brilliant sneak attack against a complacent America, but also because we may well be pulling our new adversaries out of caves 30 years after we think this war is over, just like my father's generation had to do with the formidable Japanese in the years following WW II.

These men hate the United States with all of their being, and we must not underestimate the power of their moral commitment. Napoleon, perhaps the world's greatest combination of soldier and statesman, stated "the moral is to the physical as three is to one." Patton thought the Frenchman underestimated its importance and said moral conviction was five times more important in battle than physical strength. Our enemies are willing - better said anxious -- to give their lives for their cause.

How committed are we America? And for how long?

In addition to demonstrating great moral conviction, the recent attack demonstrated a mastery of some of the basic fundamentals of warfare taught to most military officers worldwide, namely simplicity, security and surprise. When I first heard rumors that some of these men may have been trained at our own Air War College, it made perfect sense to me. This was not a random act of violence, and we can expect the same sort of military competence to be displayed in the battle to come.

This war will escalate, with a good portion of it happening right here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

These men will not go easily into the night. They do not fear us. We must not fear them. In spite of our overwhelming conventional strength as the world's only "superpower" (a truly silly term), we are the underdog in this fight. As you listen to the carefully scripted rhetoric designed to prepare us for the march for war, please realize that America is not equipped or seriously trained for the battle ahead. To be certain, our soldiers are much better than the enemy, and we have some excellent "counter-terrorist" organizations, but they are mostly trained for hostage rescues, airfield seizures, or the occasional "body snatch," (which may come in handy). We will be fighting a war of annihilation, because if their early efforts are any indication, our enemy is ready and willing to die to the last man. Eradicating the enemy will be costly and time consuming. They have already deployed their forces in as many as 20 countries, and are likely living the lives of everyday citizens. Simply put, our soldiers will be tasked with a search and destroy mission on multiple foreign landscapes, and the public must be patient and supportive until the strategy and tactics can be worked out.

For the most part, our military is still in the process of redefining Itself and presided over by men and women who grew up with - and were promoted because they excelled in - Cold War doctrine, strategy and  tactics. This will not be linear warfare, there will be no clear "centers of  gravity" to strike with high technology weapons. Our vast technological edge will certainly be helpful, but it will not be decisive. Perhaps the perfect metaphor for the coming battle was introduced by the terrorists themselves aboard the hijacked aircraft -- this will be a knife fight, and it will be won or lost by the ingenuity and will of citizens and soldiers, not by software or smart bombs. We must also be patient with our military leaders.

Unlike Americans who are eager to put this messy time behind us, our adversaries have time on their side, and they will use it. They plan to fight a battle of attrition, hoping to drag the battle out until the American public loses its will to fight. This might be difficult to believe in this euphoric time of flag waving and patriotism, but it is generally acknowledged that America lacks the stomach for a long fight. We need only look as far back as Vietnam, when North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap (also a military history teacher) defeated the United States of America without ever winning a major tactical battle. American soldiers who marched to war cheered on by flag waving Americans in 1965 were reviled and spat upon less than three years later when they returned. Although we hope that Usama Bin Laden is no Giap, he is certain to understand and employ the concept. We can expect not only large doses of pain like the recent attacks, but! also less audacious "sand in the gears" tactics, ranging from livestock infestations to attacks at water supplies and power distribution facilities.

These attacks are designed to hit us in our "comfort zone" forcing the average American to "pay more and play less" and eventually eroding our resolve. But it can only work if we let it. It is clear to me that the will of the American citizenry - you and I - is the center of gravity the enemy has targeted. It will be the fulcrum upon which victory or defeat will turn.

He believes us to be soft, impatient, and self-centered. He may be right, but if so, we must change. The Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, (the most often quoted and least read military theorist in history), says that here is a "remarkable trinity of war" that is composed of the (1) will of the people, (2) the political leadership of the government, and (3) the chance and probability that plays out on the field of battle, in that order. Every American citizen was in the crosshairs of last Tuesday's attack, not just those that were unfortunate enough to be in the World Trade Center or Pentagon. The will of the American people will decide this war. If we are to win, it will be because we have what it takes to persevere through a few more hits, learn from our! mistakes, improvise, and adapt. If we can do that, we will eventually prevail.

Everyone I've talked to In the past few days has shared a common frustration, saying in one form or another "I just wish I could do something!" You are already doing it. Just keep faith in America, and continue to support your President and military, and the outcome is certain.

If we fail to do so, the outcome is equally certain.

God Bless America

Dr. Tony Kern, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)
Former Director of Military History, USAF Academy

Dear friends around the world:

The events of this day cause every thinking person to stop their daily lives, whatever is going on in them, and to ponder deeply the larger questions of life. We search again for not only the meaning of life, but the purpose of our individual and collective experience as we have created it-and we look earnestly for ways in which we might recreate ourselves as a human species, so that we will never treat each other this way again.

The hour has come for us to demonstrate at the highest level our most extraordinary thought about Who We Really Are. There are two possible responses to what has occurred today. The first comes from love, the second from fear.

If we come from fear we may panic and do things--as individuals and as nations--that could only cause further damage. If we come from love we will find refuge and strength, even as we provide it to others.

This is the moment of your ministry. This is the time of teaching. What you teach at this time, through your every word and action right now, will remain as indelible lessons in the hearts and minds of those whose lives you touch, both now, and for years to come.

We will set the course for tomorrow, today. At this hour. In this moment.  Let us seek not to pinpoint blame, but to pinpoint CAUSE. Unless we take this time to look at the cause of our experience, we  will  never remove ourselves from the experiences it creates. Instead, we will forever live in fear of retribution from those within the human
family who feel aggrieved, and, likewise, seek retribution from them.

To us [Buddhist thinkers] the reasons are clear. We have not learned the most basic human lessons. We have not remembered the most basic human truths. We have not understood the most basic spiritual wisdom. In short, we have not been listening to God, and because we have not, we watch ourselves do ungodly things.

The message we hear from all sources of truth is clear: We are all one. That is a message the human race has largely ignored. Forgetting this truth is the only cause of hatred and war, and the way to remember is simple: Love, [in] this and every moment. If we could love even those who have attacked us, and seek to understand why they have done so, what then would be our response? Yet if we meet negativity with negativity, rage with rage, attack with attack, what then will be the outcome?

These are the questions that are placed before the human race today. They are questions that we have failed to answer for thousands of years. Failure to answer them now could eliminate the need to answer them at all.

If we want the beauty of the world that we have co-created to be experienced by our children and our children's children, we will have to become spiritual activists right here, right now, and cause that to happen. We must choose to be a cause in the matter.

So, talk with God today. Ask God for help, for counsel and advice, for insight and for strength and for inner peace and for deep wisdom. Ask God on this day to show us how to show up in the world in a way that will cause the world itself to change. And join all those people around the world who are praying right now, adding your Light to the Light that dispels all fear.

That is the challenge that is placed before every thinking person today. Today the human soul asks the question: What can I do to preserve the beauty and the wonder of our world and to eliminate the anger and hatred--and the disparity that inevitably causes it--in that part of the world which I touch?

Please seek to answer that question today, with all the magnificence that is You. What can you do TODAY...[at] this very moment? A central teaching in most spiritual traditions is: What you wish to experience, provide for another.

Look to see, now, what it is you wish to experience--in your own life, and in the world. Then see if there is another for whom you may be the source of that.

If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.

If you wish to know that you are safe, cause others to know that they are safe.

If you wish to better understand seemingly incomprehensible things, help another to better understand.

If you wish to heal your own sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of another.

Those others are waiting for you now. They are looking to you for guidance, for help, for courage, for strength, for understanding, and for assurance at this hour. Most of all, they are looking to you for love.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Dalai Lama

http://www.pfaw.org/news/press//2001-09-13.320.phtml
For Immediate Release
September 13, 2001  Contact:
Jason Young or Jeremy Leaming 202-467-4999
 
PFAW President, Ralph G. Neas, Addresses Divisive Comments by Religious Right Leaders

I am deeply saddened that in the wake of this week's devastating terrorist attacks, Religious Right political leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have chosen the path of division rather than unity.

At a time when political leaders of both parties are urging bipartisanship and national unity, it is truly unfortunate that Americans who watched today's edition of Pat Robertson's 700 Club television program received a far different message from Robertson and Falwell.

This is a time for a shared national commitment to bringing those responsible for the terrorist attacks to justice. It is also a time to renew our commitment to protecting the constitutional liberties and democratic values that sustain our free society. Today's comments by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell can only impede efforts to bring the nation together in pursuit of these goals.

Below is a partial transcript of the 700 Club television program from Thursday, September 13, 2001.

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Partial transcript of comments from the Thursday, September 13, 2001 edition of the "700 Club"

JERRY FALWELL: And I agree totally with you that the Lord has protected us so wonderfully these 225 years. And since 1812, this is the first time that we've been attacked on our soil and by far the worst results. And I fear, as Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, said yesterday, that this is only the beginning. And with biological warfare available to these monsters - the Husseins, the Bin Ladens, the Arafats - what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact - if, in fact - God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.

PAT ROBERTSON: Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to the major population.

JERRY FALWELL: The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.

PAT ROBERTSON: Well, yes.

JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."

PAT ROBERTSON: Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we're responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system.

JERRY FALWELL: Pat, did you notice yesterday the ACLU, and all the Christ-haters, People For the American Way, NOW, etc. were totally disregarded by the Democrats and the Republicans in both houses of Congress as they went out on the steps and called out on to God in prayer and sang "God Bless America" and said "let the ACLU be hanged"? In other words, when the nation is on its knees, the only normal and natural and spiritual thing to do is what we ought to be doing all the time - calling upon God.

PAT ROBERTSON: Amen