Objectivists Respond to Terrorism

NEW!

OP-EDS

CHIP JOYCE

The worst mistake that the United States could now commit is an insufficient
retaliation against the Islamic terrorist world. Read the full article. 

LETTER WRITING

SANDRA SCHWARTZ

[Published 9/13/01 in the Danbury, CT News-Times.]

Secretary of State Colin Powell and others are saying that, in an open
society such as ours, there is no way to prevent a tragedy such as the
horrific act of war America suffered yesterday. Yet there is a preventive
measure that could be taken--if President George W. Bush has the strength
and courage to pursue it. The situation requires not just bringing the   
perpetrators of the death and destruction at the World Trade Center to   
justice, but it also requires making pre-emptive strikes against all     
terrorist organizations and all their training camps around the world to 
stop terrorism at its root. Countries that harbor or finance terrorists  
should also be targeted, so that every nation in the world would know that
it is not safe to give sanctuary to mass murderers.

If some people say that such actions would reduce the United States to the
level of the terrorists, they are absolutely wrong. This would be a
retaliatory use of force to prevent further crime and advance the safety
of our citizens in the future. Attacking terrorists now would show that 
the United States does not and will not tolerate any form of terrorism. 
And if terrorists try to regroup, they will be destroyed again and again
until terrorism is no more. 


GLENN WOICESHYN

[[The following was published in the National Post (9/12/01), the Ottawa   
Citizen (9/14/01), and perhaps other newspapers. This was the first letter
Glenn sent out in response to the attack. He also sent out two more
different letters and several newspapers called already wanting to publish
them.]

Re: Terrorist Attacks on America -- News -- Sept. 11

The only positive thing that could emerge from this latest and deadliest 
terrorist attack on the U.S. is a proper approach to combating terrorism.
The past policy of appeasing terrorist organizations merely encourages
them to shed more blood.

Furthermore, the past policy of blaming only the terrorists and not the 
governments that harbor and finance these bloodthirsty killers guarantees
more terrorism. This latest, coordinated, well-organized assault on the
U.S. could not have been possible without the help of such evil
governments.

The U.S. must take substantive military action against all known terrorist 
bases as well as governments that sponsor terrorism. War is war. Harboring
terrorists is a criminal act of war.  Had a proper approach to terrorism
been implemented sooner, the tragic events of September 11th would not
have occurred.


[Published 9/14/01 in the Calgary Herald.]

Re: What should the U.S. do now?

Contrary to widespread opinion, it is wrong to conclude that such deadly 
terrorist attacks are unavoidable, or that the U.S. should wait until "all
the evidence" is in and then "bring the perpetrators to justice," or that
retaliation is as barbaric as initiation, or that the U.S. should build an
impenetrable wall and beef up "internal security" at the expense of
individual liberty.

Past responses to acts of anti-American terrorism have been abysmally 
weak, thereby giving terrorists a green light. Terrorism is an act of war.
Effective terrorists are made possible by the countries that harbor them.
Any country that harbors anti-American terrorists -- such as Afghanistan,
Iran, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Sudan -- is thereby at war with the U.S., and
their governments deserve to be bombed. Since there are no bombs that
selectively kill those responsible for terrorism, the U.S. can not be
morally blamed for killing so-called innocent bystanders.  Such is the
nature of war and the price one pays for having an evil government.

A substantive bombing of governments that harbor anti-American terrorists 
will go a long way to wipe out international terrorism. It would be
immoral and self-destructive for the U.S.  to do otherwise.


CHRIS HELMS

[Letter to the President, his state Senators, and his district
representative. (with name modifications)]

You may be hearing from some, that to take military action against Islamic
countries in the Middle East and Central Asia would be irresponsible and
vengeful. I am writing to warn you of this view.

At this critical juncture, any attempt to take on terrorism cell by cell or
an attempt to extradite and prosecute these criminals would not only be
offensive to millions of Americans, but would embolden and enhearten
thousands of terrorists around the world.

The United States can no longer afford to be a paper tiger. This country has
known its enemies for decades. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Libya, Yemen,
and others are all known to harbor and assist terrorists. These countries
consider the U.S. as their official and ideological enemies. It is a
travesty that we have not reciprocated that sentiment.

If this attack is treated as others in the past have been, we are in store
for acts of terrorism that will make the atrocities of 9/11 pale in
comparison.

An attack on these rogue states would not be fundamentally retributive, but
preventative. How many more Americans have to die before we say that
governments like the Taliban can no longer exist on the same planet as ours.

We are a freedom-loving people Mr. President. We are not...I repeat are
not...willing to accept a country in which we have to live in fear of
terrorist attacks. I keep hearing people say on television that the old
secure America is over. I'm warning you that the citizens of this country
will never stand for it. We demand a resolution. We demand that we will be
able to walk the streets, and fly in airplanes, and work on the 105th floor
without fear, without armed guards, and without a military policing American
citizens. We demand that America be returned to the land of freedom,
security, confidence, and pride that it has always been. We demand this to
the point that we no longer have qualms about a U.S. nuclear strike, we
support the nuclear option, and we request it.

Our enemies should never have been able to attack New York City, the symbol
of America's pride and ambition, without the fear of total annihilation.

Mr. President, I'm writing you today to tell you that I and millions of
other Americans demand that our enemies be destroyed. We demand a war. 


STACEY HOFFMAN

I have written email "letters"  to my NJ governor, my Senators(NJ), and to
President Bush. I have stated clearly that I want my government to take
Military action. If you have access to email (www.whitehouse.gov) or wish
to write, I encourage you to do so. 


DAVID ELMORE

[David sent the following letter via email (with some slight
modifications) to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The New York Times,
the Wall Street Journal, the President, the Vice President, their wives,  
and his Senators and Congressman.]

The recent acts of savagery agaist the United States cannot be stopped
with missiles alone.

They can be ended only with invasions, complete with U.S. troops and
military materiel. We must take over the rogue countries that harbor and
support the Osama bin Ladens of the world. After we have done so, we must
sell off as much of their assets as necessary to compensate the people,
companies and officials of the United States who suffered most on Sept.  
11.

These actions are long past due -- and must be diametrically opposite of
the inaction taken by our previous leaders.

Presidents Truman and Eisenhower were the first in a long line of American
officials to allow wholesale theft of U.S. companies' assets when they
simply watched Arab scum confiscate oil companies' rigs and oil in the
Arab nations. Like Chamberlain waving his white piece of paper signed by
Hitler, our presidents (and those who vote for them) have energetically
pursued spineless appeasement rather than sure justice over the last 55
years.

Muslim terrorists know this well. They may be grossly immoral, but they
are not stupid. Like Hitler saw with Western Europe, they have seen how we
Americans have turned gutless -- shying away from confrontation instead of
beating bullies into cowering submission.

These terrorists smirk and thumb their misanthropic noses at us, knowing
that we have emasculated ourselves.

After we have turned the rogue nations to rubble and made our shores and 
airways safe again, I recommend that Americans bolster their confidence
with the only ideas that can adequately and permanently smash terrorism
and other forms of irrationalism: the fiction and philosophy of Ayn Rand.


KAYLEEN WOOLF

[Letter faxed to the President and various government organizations.]

As an American citizen I am saddened and outraged that we have not
properly responded to the most recent attack on our ideals and values. Why
are we waiting? We have been taken hostage and/or killed while our
government responded with big talk and small strikes. American embassies
have been attacked - and again our government talked big but acted small.
We have just been attacked on home soil and I fear, again, the government
will not respond appropriately. We need more than words - we need action.

That action is to target and eliminate ALL terrorist groups and the
governments who aid them. I agree with President Bush when he said to
"make no distinction between the terrorists . and those who harbor them."
These words must be followed with a military strike. We should already be
in the air, prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary, to eliminate   
that threat to freedom, not only on American soil but all over the world.
Every act of terrorism is an act of war and we must respond appropriately.
I demand that the proper and moral action be taken - eliminate the
terrorists and their training facilities and eliminate the governments who
support them, for they are accessories to the murder of Americans.


STEVEN BROCKERMAN

 [Sent to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Colin Powell, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Bangor Daily News, Chicago Tribune, 
Miami Herald, Mercury News, Orange County Register, Washington Post]
terrorism/index.htm

Make War -- Not Speeches: An Open Letter to the President of the United States

Dear Mr. President:

As a veteran of the 101st Abn. and as an American citizen, I want to offer you my full
support and cooperation during one of our country's darkest hours. 

After the brutal and murderous attack upon the peoples of the United States on September
11, 2001, coupled with the certain and irrefutable knowledge we possess that Libya, Sudan,
Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan have financed, harbored, armed, supported and protected
those who are directly responsible for this heinous and cowardly sneak attack, the course
the United States must now take is not only obvious, but a requisite for our survival as a
free nation. 

What happened in New York City and in Washington D.C. was not the act of a few irrational,
barbaric individuals; it was the act of a group of nations representing a barbaric and
viciously anti-life culture.  If we expect to survive as a civilization of liberty and
justice -- if we expect there to be peace in the world -- then we must wipe out those
nations and that savage culture.  Reason requires it.  Justice demands it.

Therefore, I fervently urge you to declare war on those six nations and, immediately
afterward, to order our military to launch a nuclear missile attack upon their capitals,
their industrial centers (such as they are) and their military sites without delay,
without prior notice and without concern for so called "collateral damage."  While
tragically regrettable, in a war against death worshipping tyrants, the moral
responsibility for the loss of innocent lives rests squarely on the shoulders of those
tyrants.

Furthermore, in addition to our initial nuclear assault, I urge you to order the military
to follow with a continuous, prolonged and massive conventional missile attack upon those
nations.  In conjunction with this attack -- in which no American soldiers need be
directly involved -- I strongly recommend that we request the Israelis to launch a
coordinated assault on the West Bank and on the Gaza Strip, with the purpose of
annihilating the PLO and bringing its leaders, including the murderous Yassar Arafat, to
justice.

While this course of action may seem mercilessly harsh before world opinion, such action,
as history has clearly shown time and again with tyrants, will mark the beginning of the
end for those Middle Eastern dictatorships -- that Crescent of Tyranny curled around the
Mediterranean like a serpent -- and, therefore, also mark the beginning of the end to the
terrorist violence for which they are and have been responsible.  And make no mistake, Mr.
President, it is history -- not world opinion -- to which we as a nation and you as our
Commander-in-Chief must ultimately answer.  For if we do not act with such massive and
prolonged military force, it will mark the end for freedom and for the United States of
America.


[Sent to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Colin Powell, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Bangor Daily News, Chicago Tribune, 
Miami Herald, Mercury News, Orange County Register, Washington Post,  The London 
Times, The Washington Times and The Manchester Guardian.]

After fifty-years of appeasing Mid-East tyrants -- from their nationalization of our oil
wells right up to the U.S.S. Cole bombing -- the United States has finally, tragically
reaped what She has sown. Shall we now engage in more of the same? 

Or shall we, instead, rationalize that the slaughter in New York and Washington was a
criminal act, perpetrated by individuals against whom we must gather proof?

Sophistry.

Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq ^Ö to name only three ^Ö have sponsored such terrorists for
years.  And we have known for years.  

Shall we, instead, practice patience to form unnecessary coalitions in order to prepare
for a long and bloody ground campaign?

More sophistry. 

No such campaign is necessary.  We have nuclear missiles whose use would place no American
soldier and no ally at risk.  Such mass destruction as would ensue would insure that no
country ever again terrorized the United States.

Thousands have died. Millions will be next, rest assured.  The question is, will it be
Americans or those who deal in tyranny and unprovoked slaughter? Enough said. The time for
talk is over. Now is the time to make war, not speeches.


PAUL BLAIR

[Posted to an e-mail discussion list.]

Let's be clear about the nature of those who did this. They want nothing positive for
themselves; they want us destroyed. Issues such as whether or not there is a Palestinian
state or who oppressed whom last Thursday are completely beside the point; the very
existence of America and what it stands for is a moral affront to them that must be wiped
off the face of the Earth. Western movies and television they want abolished. They want
you on a prayer rug facing Mecca; if you wish to express your thoughts they want you
muzzled; if you are a blasphemer they want you executed. If you are a woman, they want you
wearing a veil and enslaved to your husband or father. If you are a homosexual, they want
you dead. If you value your life and happiness they want you subjugated.

They want and fully intend to use violence on us regardless of whether or not we resist,
and are willing to give up their lives in the effort. Cliches like "violence begets
violence" are utterly inappropriate. To speak of a "cycle of violence" is to blame the
victims for resisting the attacks of those who will not rest until those victims are
destroyed. It is to demand that the innocent sacrifice themselves to the guilty and let
the evil win over the good. It is to repudiate justice and to stand with injustice.

There is no moral sophistication in blindly equating initiating force with retaliating
against it. Nor is there any legitimate moral basis for treating as equivalent the
targeting of innocent people in a terrorist attack, with fighting a war against
governments that pose a genuine threat. Civilians who live in those countries have an
obligation either to flee or to revolt; they have no right to expect that their
governments will be permitted to commit any atrocity and remain untouched by hiding behind
them.

In the long run, moral cowards wind up the dead victims of those they refuse to fight.
They will leave the world to those of us who are willing to pass moral judgment.



DISCUSSION LISTS

NEW DISCUSSION LIST - Terrorism vs. America 




THEY'RE SPEAKING OUT

The Ayn Rand Institute
Capitalism Magazine
Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism

Paul Blair
Steven Brockerman
Edward Cline
Jason Crawford
David Elmore
Andre Gous
Stacey Hoffman
Michael Hurd
Adam Mossoff
Leonard Peikoff
Edward Peyton
Prodos
Tedd Potts
David Sanderson
Manfred Smith
Dixon Teter
Daniel Wahl
Glenn Woiceshyn
Kayleen Woolf
Greg Zeigerson

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING


THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE

The AYN RAND INSTITUTE has set up an "America at War" web site 
<http://www.aynrand.org/medialink/actofwar.html>
featuring:

By Leonard Peikoff
 
• 9/12/01 Fifty Years of Appeasement Led to Black Tuesday
• 9/11/01 Interview with Leonard Peikoff (RealAudio)
• 9/15/98 Fanning the Flames of Terrorism (Dr. Peikoff with Andrew Lewis)
• 9/6/98 Radio Show Special: Islamic Terrorists vs. America (RealAudio)
• 1/28/97 Iraq: The Wrong War
• 1996 What to Do about Terrorism
• 1996 Israel's -- and America's -- Fundamental Choice

By Others

• 9/11/01 Acts of War, by Robert Tracinski
• 9/11/01 Terrorist Attacks Are an Act of War, ARI Press Release
• 8/20/01 The Upside-Down War, by Robert Tracinski
• 8/15/01 Calls for Palestinian State Spell Suicide for Palestinians, 
          by Yaron Brook
• 6/20/01 The Palestinian Choice, by Edwin Locke
• 2/14/01 How America Abets Its Terrorist Foes, by Dianne Durante
• 10/23/00 Why Justice Will Not Prevail, by Robert Tracinski 


THE CENTER FOR THE MORAL DEFENSE OF CAPITALISM

<http://www.moraldefense.com/MediaCenter/Press_Releases/WTC-Pentagon-attack.htm>


CAPITALISM MAGAZINE

<http://capitalismmagazine.com/>

ACT OF WAR: INTERVIEW WITH LEONARD PEIKOFF 
What a Real War Looks Like By Robert W. Tracinski
Fifty Years of Appeasement Led to Black Tuesday By Leonard Peikoff 
The Psycho-Epistemology of the Arab World by Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D. 
        (available from AynRandBookstore.com)
No Middle of the Road Response to Terrorism By Dr. Michael Hurd 
Remember September 11th By Nicholas Provenzo 
What Must America Do Now By Robert W. Tracinski
Altruism at Work: How the U.S. Supports the Taliban in 2001 By Michelle Malkin
A Necessary Response By Chip Joyce
A Declaration of War Against Terrorism By Adam Mossoff


EDWARD CLINE

[Letter]

Dear Mr. President: 

I must agree with you that the attacks on New York City and Washington, 
together with what now appears to have been a failed attempt on your own 
person and office, constitute a declaration of war on this country and on 
the freedoms for which it stands.

I feel compelled to presume to remind you that those who planned these 
attacks, as well as those who executed them, are motivated by a profound 
hatred of life and of this country, that it is and always has been precisely 
innocent men, women, and children -- busy living their lives in freedom and 
prosperity -- who are the chief, particular objects of their hatred.  Once 
one grasps and accepts this terrible fact, once one comprehends the 
malevolent motive behind the hatred, it will be easier to don the mantle of 
moral rectitude and to act accordingly and properly.

I urge you to unleash the full might of our military to vanquish and 
eliminate these enemies once and for all, to abandon the "zero casualty" 
policy that has repeatedly proven so fruitless and counter-productive, to 
"punish" the killers with merciless removal from the life they so hate, to 
punish those regimes and governments that abet and protect the killers -- so 
that Americans can get on with their own lives.  This is a life or death 
issue, Mr. President.  Those who want to live, who know how to live, ought 
not to negotiate or compromise with death-worshippers, ever, in any 
circumstance.

I cried for my country last Tuesday, Mr. President, because I could not 
understand why it stood so defenseless.


JASON CRAWFORD

[Letter]

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to say that I support -- no, as an American citizen, I
demand -- an immediate and unrestrained retaliation against the vicious
barbarians who have attacked our country and our freedom.

The attack this morning is no less than a declaration of war. It is a war
we must fight. We can no longer respond to our enemies with restraint and
appeasement; we must now respond with utter destruction, striking
immediately and with full force. I fully support the use of nuclear
weapons in this war.

I applaud your remark in your speech tonight that we will make no
distinction between the terrorists and the nations which harbor them.
Morally, there is no distinction--they are both unspeakably evil and must
be destroyed, for the sake of the nation.

I also applaud the remarks of some commentators that we need not wait for
a full investigation nor a final conclusion about who was responsible for
the attacks. Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Libya, among
others, have been the sworn enemies of the United States for years; all of
them are valid and necessary targets.

Please, Mr. President--for the love of freedom and of life itself--save us
from those who threaten this country. Destroy our enemies. Fight this war.


ANDRE GOUS

[a letter to his elected representatives and others in government]

I am writing to you in order to urge quick and decisive military
action before the situation collapses into a state of hand-wringing.

Regardless of the technical means of killing people, when they're
dead, it doesn't matter if it was caused by a hit by 767 or by a
nuclear bomb.  The terrorists hit first !  Now, let's go and unleash
the FULL force of US military might.  This means: including the
nuclear option.

I have been paying taxes for many years.  I have also ceded to
you a task of paramount importance: my self-defense against
foreign enemies. Forget food stamps and subsidized housing ...
THIS is the proper function of my elected government: to protect
my life and safety.

If you've forgotten that this is your job, this letter intends to remind
you.

If you're unsure how to do your job, this letter intends to inform you:
if you hold back, you may not get another chance ... militarily, from
our enemies, and from me, at the ballot box.

You don't need to make a complex case out of this.  The enemies
of our country have been known for years.  The problem is not lack
of information.  It's lack of resolve, shown by individuals who form the
US government.  Does that include you?

If you're not committed to using full force to retaliate against
Terrorist countries, right now, what more would it take to inspire you?

My beloved stepdaughter lives in Los Angeles.  Is that the next
terrorist target?  Do I have to wait until she is dead before you
finally decide that her life would have been worth protecting?
If the honest answer is that you remain hesitant, then I ask: step down,
and hand over control to someone who IS willing to do the job
which I have elected and paid you to do.

In case you agree with my premises, and need intellectual ammunition
to convince your peers, I enclose two well-written articles which
I unreservedly endorse: one by Leonard Peikoff, one by Michael Hurd."


MICHAEL HURD

The horrifying sight of the collapsing World Trade towers, a demolished Pentagon, and the loss
of tens of thousands of innocent American lives is the last wake-up call. Do you not want to be
the victim of nuclear war? Do you not want to inhabit a country terrorized by biological
warfare? It's for real, people! 

For the rest of this article, see The Daily Dose of Reason at <http://www.DrHurd.com>.


ADAM MOSSOFF

[Op-Ed]

In 1941, America was the target of an unprovoked, unmitigated and unjustified attack that
left thousands dead and many more wounded. Americans understood the meaning of this day of
infamy and responded appropriately--the sleeping giant was awakened. War was declared and
the evil was eventually vanquished.

Yesterday, September 11, 2001, America was again the target of evil. Make no mistake about
it: what happened yesterday was an act of war. America must now rise to the occasion and
defend itself, or it will only face similar vile acts of destruction in the coming years.
An unequivocal declaration of war by Congress must be adopted today.

But against whom? In 1941, Japan at least had the honor of acting in the open in its
attack on the U.S. naval base at Pear Harbor. During the military engagement, Japan's
colors and insignia were displayed on all of its planes and ships for any and all to see.
The slaughter that was perpetrated yesterday--against innocent civilians--was committed by
cowards who have hidden behind a veil of secrecy and suicide. The terrorist group does not
even chose to acknowledge its responsibility in the communique such organizations have
typically sent to newspapers in the past.

America knows, however, the countries who officially sponsor such terrorist organizations.
The names of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, and Sudan easily roll off the lips of
any American official asked to identify the countries who have provided terrorists with
training facilities, asylum and financial support. America knows of the terrorist
organizations that have murdered innocent people for decades, such as Osama Bin Laden,
Hamas, and a multitude of Palestinian groups, to name but a few. (The sight yesterday of
the celebrating Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank should have sickened every
American; they were celebrating the mass murder of innocent American citizens.) A
declaration of war against terrorism should simply contain a list of every country and
organization that has in the past, or stated an intention for the future, of committing or
aiding terrorist acts against the U.S.

It has been America's inaction against these countries and organizations for the past 30
years or more that has permitted terrorism to fester and grow like a cancer. And just as
cancer kills healthy bodies, terrorists yesterday killed thousands of innocent Americans
and forever marred a beacon of civilization and progress--the New York City skyline. It is
time to cut out and obliterate the cancer of terrorism--and its supporting ideology of
Islamic Jihad--before it spreads and ultimately consumes more innocent and healthy lives.

The memory of the gleaming twin towers of the World Trade Center and its thousands of
productive inhabitants who perished yesterday deserves no less.


LEONARD PEIKOFF ON PRODOS

LEONARD PEIKOFF has responded to the terrorist attack on America and
recorded an interview with PRODOS.

You can hear it NOW in RealAudio at:

   <http://www.prodos.com/archive034actofwar.html>

and click on "LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW NOW" on the upper left side of the
page.


EDWARD PEYTON

[Faxed and emailed to members of Congress, the White House, and
committees of Congress.]

I am an American citizen, and I wish to register my opinion on the current crisis.
 
I want to say that I support immediate, unrestrained retaliation against any and
all countries which harbor terrorists.  This is an act of war. We already know several
countries that are the sworn enemies of the US-- Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria,
Afghanistan, and others.
 
Identify these countries. Strike against their governments. Make a strong statement that
we consider these governments outlaw nations, and we will make sure that any nation that
will not join the CIVILIZED nations of the world, by renouncing force, not just in words,
but in actions, will not BE a nation in the world. We must make a statement, then back it
up with complete and devastating force. NOTHING ELSE WILL DO. Anything else will only
encourage more terrorist attacks. If we don't want the barbarians "at the gate", if we
want to keep civilization itself, then we need to make sure they are destroyed, and that
those who many consider this kind of force are reduced to complete and total FEAR of the
United States of America. This will mean difficult times ahead, and international
difficulties. But if we act with the moral rectitude and certainty that we are defending
not just the Unites States, but civilization itself, we will win. No civilized person or
government can oppose us.
 
I am opposed to any policies of restraint or appeasement. I am opposed to the idea of
criminal investigations leading to attempts to extradite, and arrest. I fully support the
use of any and all force to make sure destruction is rained on these governments and
individuals, including nuclear weapons.


TEDD POTTS

[Letter to the editor]

In 1964, Ayn Rand wrote:

"America's inner contraditions was the altruist-collectivist ethics.
Altrusim is incompatible with freedom, with capitalism and with individual
rights.  One cannot combine the pursuit of happiness with the moral status
of a sacrificial animal."

Yesterday I saw a most horrific, yet eloquent depiction of Evil vs. Good
when the altruistic pilots attacked America at it's symbol of capitalism:
the World Trade Center.  These pilots willingly sacrificed their lives for
what they perceived was the betterment of society.  Long ago they had
abandoned reason as their method of viewing reality; instead it is obvious
they had relied on faith and had decided to live their lives in blind
obedience to it.  Selflessly disarming themselves of their ability to
reason, they first obeyed the teachings of their religion, then they obeyed
the instructions of their terrorist leaders, then they destroyed thousands
of American lives.

History has repeated itself.  Just as Hitler required non-rational,
self-sacrificing individuals to carry out his work, just as Stalin required
more of the same, today's terrorists require humans who are willing to throw
away that which makes them human - their minds.


DAVID SANDERSON

[Letter to the editor]

Earlier today our president said that our nation was attacked because it
is the brightest light of freedom and hope in the world.  He was right. I
have decided that in memory of this black day, and in defiance of the
darkness that has set itself against us, that I will keep the outside
lights of my home on at night.  I encourage and invite all Americans to do
the same.

MANFRED SMITH

[His  response to one of many "let us pray" emails that suddenly have
sprouted out of the internet]

With due respect to your call for prayer, you may wish to consider that
the prayers of other religious persuasions (Islamic, in this case) have
apparently been heard and granted by God.

Pray for the dead as you choose, but fight like hell for the living.


DIXON TETER

[Sent to the President]

As we address the horror and shock we rely upon you and our government for our continued
safety and the safekeeping of our very way of life. While your words on the tragedy were
stern and comforting they were not strong enough. As a citizen I demand immediate and
unrestrained retaliation. The time for conciliation and measured response is over. Nuclear
weapons are fully justifiable. They will save American lives just as they did in the
Second World War. No more Americans should die. Terrorists would use them if they could.
This must never happen. Terrorist supporting countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Sudan and Libya, among others, have been the sworn enemies of the United States for
years. They are all valid, necessary and immediate targets. This is not the time for
criminal investigation. This is a time of war. War calls for the "terrible swift sword."

Mr. President, only you can save us and the American, the civilized, the rational way of
life. Fight. Fight for freedom. Fight for life. Fight all out with everything we have.
Win. Those who rejoice in the streets of the world at this act must learn that the United
States is not a paper tiger. Those who rejoice in OUR streets must immediately be arrested
for treason.

I hope that you will agree that what you say must be in the strongest and most clear
terms. Perhaps it might go as follows in an address to the Nation and to the World in
front of a joint session of Congress.

"My fellow Americans, as we return to our lives and mourn our dead we must simultaneously
take steps to assure that such a day of infamy is never repeated. As we begin immediately
to rebuild the World Trade Towers, we must guarantee that the rational civilization they
represent is not ever threatened again. As we rebuild the Pentagon, we will make certain
that the defense of freedom it represents is ever vigilant and strong.

This was not a criminal act. This was an act of war. We seek justice in criminal actions.
That is the rule-of-law by which all civilized men live. Terrorists are not civilized.
They are the sworn enemies of civilized rational men everywhere. They and the nations that
support them have declared war on the United States. They have declared war on
civilization. We declare war on terrorism. In war, to borrow from General Eisenhower, we
seek and will settle for nothing less than the complete annihilation and total destruction
of our enemy.

The full resources of the United States are now devoted to the complete destruction of
these enemies of America and of civilization itself. They want to die for their ^Ñcause,^Ò
the cause of the mindlessly irrational, the cause of the nihilistic worship of
destruction, to paraphrase another great American, General George Patton, then they shall
certainly die. Their reward for their deeds will not be with publicity in this life or
heaven afterwards. They will reap only nameless deaths and burn in hell.

President Roosevelt said that December 7, 1941 was a "day that shall live in infamy."
America^Òs response was to completely destroy the enemy. September 11, 2001 is a ^Ñday
that shall live in infamy.^Ò The result will be the same.

We ask all civilized nations to become our allies in total war on terrorists of all kinds
wherever they are found. But make no mistake, the Unites States is fully prepared to wage
this war and to totally destroy our enemies alone. Any nation that harbors our enemy is
our enemy. We are resolute and implacable. Our will is unbending and our determination is
inexorable. We, who want nothing but peace, will wage a total war and destroy our enemy.
We will not live in fear. We will live as free men, as Americans."



DANIEL WAHL

[Sent to the President]

I am writing this to demand that you take immediate action against the 
countries who support, sponsor, or harbor terrorist organizations. The 
barbarians who did this--and their governments--understand only force. And 
it is thus force which we must use against them in order to defend our 
sacred freedoms.

What happened on September 11 was an act of war not by individual 
ter-rorists but by any government who harbors and supports such barbarians. 
There is therefore no justification for stalling justice--we've already 
identified the countries: Iran, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan. It is these 
countries (at least the most powerful of them--Iran and Afghanistan) which 
must now be leveled if they don't get rid of all their terrorist 
organizations immediately.

As a citizen of this country I demand that such action be taken. As the 
President you have an obligation to take such action. I only hope that, for 
my sake and for the future of the whole world, you do so. Thank-you


GREG ZEIGERSON

[Greg sent the message below in slightly varying forms to the New York
Post, President Bush, Senator Schumer, Rep. Benjamin Gilman, and Sec.of
State Colin Powell.]

It is imperative that the United States Congress and the President
declare war immediately against the governments of Afghanistan, Iraq and
Iran. They have harbored, funded and assisted vicious anti-American
terrorists for years. They violate the human rights of their own people.
Radical Islamic fundamentalism must be identified plainly by the United
States as an evil ideology. And then we must literally wipe out the
governments of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, and install peaceful
constitutional democracies there. We cannot afford merely "swift
justice." We must wipe out our enemies as we did in World War
II--including using nuclear weapons. We have the ability, we simply must
decide to act. We have been savagely attacked, we must quadruple the
damage in our response--for peace. And, for civilization, for freedom,
for democracy, for capitalism, for individual human rights. It is a
simple choice: either our lives or their lives, either democracy and
freedom or radical religious dictatorship and living death. If we had
responded properly to earlier attacks, this one would not have happened.
This is America's last chance. Either wipe them out or they will surely
wipe us out, 20,000 at a time.