Cowards, governments, and civilians

There's no need to nitpick terms. The perpetrators of today's bombings
were despicable cowards no matter how brave the act of self sacrifice is
thought to be. The people who died today and those who knew them and the
others who were hurt directly or indirectly by this act - none of them
deserved it. No matter what the perpetrators might have believed the US
or its government to be guilty of doing evil against them or their own
or to the world, the dead did not deserve it.

As with all the brutal acts against civilians, the innocent have
suffered at the hands of the few - the few who are directed, organized
and committed enough to plan and carry out events which a "normal"
person would not even dream of.

What drives a man to such extremes? I don't know for sure, but they must
certainly have felt that they had nothing to lose. That and a belief
system which somehow justifies what they did. It's sobering, though not
surprising, to find that this combination exists. It's sobering because
it still exists today. It's not surprising because it has existed
throughout the ages in a number of different religions. Though it pains
me to point it out, I must, with all due respect to the victims and
their families, - this is not the first brutal slaying of innocents at
the hands of a few fanatics nor is it the worst in history.

What can humanity do to prevent this sort of thing from happening again
- anywhere in the world or against anyone? I fear the answer is none.

What can the US do to prevent it from happening again, here. I fear that
the answer still is not much. Blind retaliation? I don't think it will
work. One can make sure that the perpetrators are found and punished
(and I really wish that they are), but that probably will not stop
others who would repeat the brutality elsewhere and elsewhen. One can
take all the safety precautions that one can think of but the Hamas, the
ETA and the IRA (among others) have proven time and time again that the
tightest security can eventually be beaten, given the willpower and the
desire to do so. (There was another suicide bombing as well today, in
Istanbul where 3 people were killed. Small peanuts compared to what
happened in New York, but in Istanbul security is much tighter.)

I fear that the repercussions of this will be long term and unhappy for
many people. I fear that the only thing that "normal" people can do is
to go on with life as usual, to show no loss of faith in humanity, and
look at the evil in the eye and say "You see, I am NOT like you. Nor
will I be cowed by you, no matter how hard you try." That takes real
guts.

Pittsburgh, 9 September 2001