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How Should We Respond to Terrorism?

Most of us see the terrorist acts of Sept. 11 as an attack not just on the United States, but on Western Civilization. As such we all need to consider how we should respond, and how to resist the dark shadow that has fallen over the world.

Mayor Giuliani of New York City urged Americans to return to business and not retreat into fear and lethargy. This is not what the expatriate community in Portugal is doing. Several events were immediately cancelled, and expats are rushing to heed the warnings of their embassies to hide - don't appear in public, don't gather, don't show the flag. Do we really need to convince the terrorists that we are cowards? Don't they already assume that?

I would prefer to continue my life as usual, and I wish that I could meet with other Americans and talk about the events and what they mean to us - in fact, as a dual citizen of the US and Canada who was lived in Canada and Portugal for the last 30 years, I usually identify myself as a Canadian, but since last Tuesday I feel drawn to my American roots and proudly assert my connection to the land of my birth, no matter what warnings to the contrary may come from the State Department.

We are already beginning to see signs that Americans and other western citizens are beginning to panic and act in irrational and counterproductive ways. Many of the frantic security measures that governments are undertaking have absolutely no logical connection to any perceptible threat - for example, since the terrorists have shown that they understand the destructive power of an airplane fully loaded with fuel, the greatest risk is from long-distance flights immediately after take-off, and yet the FAA seems most concerned about flights arriving in the US from foreign destinations, presumably with almost empty fuel tanks.

One disturbing sign of how blind emotion can play into the hands of terrorists is the growing anti-Moslem sentiment in the US and elsewhere, and the recent demonstrations outside mosques. If indeed these terrorist acts were performed by radical Moslems, then one of their goals must be to radicalise the moderate Moslem majority, and inspiring persecution is one of the most effective ways to do this. This has been clearly shown in Israel, where the Intifada has sought to neutralise, sometimes by lethal means, moderates who seek a rapprochement between Moslems and Jews. I therefore encourage all your readers to respond with their minds as well as their hearts to this terrible disaster, to face this as yet faceless enemy with forthright courage, and to forgo neither freedom nor compassion. Terrorism appeals to our mindless fears, and the best weapon we have against it is reason.

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