The purpose of terrorism is to disrupt the lives and paralyze the minds of a targeted group by the calculated use of acts which provoke overwhelming fear. People all over the globe can relate to the horror felt by those innocent citizens on board the hijacked airliners, and to the terror experienced by other victims in the collapsing, burning buildings. Families were torn apart, fine people lost forever, lives of heroic rescue workers snuffed out in a few short hours of chaos. My heart aches for the suffering of those left behind.
Americans have for over a century been free from wars fought within the seemingly safe boundaries of the continental United States. Terrorism has been something seen on the nightly news from overseas, only affecting "those people over there." We are having a difficult time dealing with the fact that terrorism has suddenly appeared on our very doorstep, even though experts have been warning us for many years. Only the exact date and weapons of choice were a mystery until yesterday. We don't even know whether the attack is over yet; another shoe may drop tomorrow.
What can we do? How can we cope? The very best revenge against the instigators is to get on with our lives. Re-open the financial markets, send our children back to school, resume our travel plans, enjoy sports activities, and allow the feelings of fear and panic brought on by the endless video repetitions of the crashes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to diminish. We cannot allow demented people to control our lives. Even if we cannot stop future terrorist attacks in our country, we can control the way we respond to them
Thousands of people are already volunteering to help create order out of the destruction on the east coast. Donations of money, expertise, spiritual support and lifeblood itself are coming from every corner of the country and the world. The ability to provide concrete support to the people most directly affected by the attacks will lead to our own healing. We are not helpless, but are indeed helpful. The victims of terrorism are the innocents who died, but the rest of us can and will be the survivors. We will be stronger than we were, we will be watchful, we will be ready for the next attack, and we will prevail as a democratic nation.
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