Today the American people live in a different world. Out of the same blue sky that promised all of us'whether we live in New York City, Washington, D.C., or Madison'the beauties of fall, came death and ruin. When American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 swooped down and crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center, they dragged us all into a world that was more senseless and bloody than any of us had imagined it could be.
Whether we watched the fall of the towers on live television or on tape in the hours afterward, we didn't need the news anchors to tell us that we were watching an event that would mark a watershed in our lives. Our grandparents' generation wept remembering Pearl Harbor. Our parents wept remembering John F. Kennedy's assassination. We wept with the bitter thought that this would be the tragedy that scarred our generation. Now when we look up at the gleam of an airliner inching its way across the sky'a sight that delighted so many of us as children'we'll have to remember that even airplanes can be twisted into weapons. In this new world, anything can be.
The dangers aren't over yet. The group that organized the killings has finished its attack, but it has left other weapons to threaten us: our own fear, doubt and anger. They will conspire with threats of future attacks to keep us trapped in this world.
The challenge for us is to heal our wounds without letting them become infected by panic or rage. Our first thought ought to be for the victims and their loved ones. We can give them our hearts and thoughts, money (call 1-800-HELP-NOW), relief supplies and blood (call 1-800-448-3543).
Next, we need to urge President Bush, our congressional representatives and the rest of our leaders to respond to this attack with wisdom. Whatever the motives might have been, Tuesday's attacks were the worst evil'the murder of innocents. But in our outrage we can't let ourselves forget that we still don't know who's responsible. We also have to remember that, whoever they are, they are sure to live alongside innocent people, just like the ones who died yesterday.
No one envies President Bush the task of responding to these attacks, but one thing is clear: He must put anger aside and respond calmly. We can't afford another mistake like the botched cruise missile strike that President Clinton ordered in August 1998 against the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, one man blamed for Tuesday's attack. The dozens of Tomahawk missiles that were launched against two sites in Afghanistan and the Sudan raised moral doubts and hurt our image in the world community. They also failed to deter bin Laden or dismantle his terrorist group and may have even strengthened their resolve to attack the United States. President Bush must choose more effective responses now, measures that will safeguard innocent lives and avoid trapping us in a cycle of violence.
