terrorism or war?

["Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com>]

Dear friends,

As you know I have been a supporter of punishing those responsible for
terrorism. Following segment makes an interesting point. I was further
concerned about calling the terrorism act an act of war in that many of the
victims would not be able to collect insurance (either property or life)
since this is being called an act of war. I am very disturbed by this
disgusting act of violence but I find it alarming that we as a nation might
become terrorists because of it! I am very proud of the speed in which we
have come together to help each other... the greatest quality we have is the
love we have for one another. It would be a shame to see that die because of
revenge. We have to be certain that we retaliate to be champions of justice
not revenge. After all... this calamity has come upon us because others
could not tell the difference.

"Your brother in arms"
Shahab...

A letter, published in yesterday's New York Times, lays out the fundamental
difference between terrorist acts and war in following manner:

"It is a horrible mistake to to use the metaphor of war to describe this
terrorist action. Wars entail violence by entire populations. Calling this
"a war" is a way of preparing ourselves to accept and justify that which is
unjustifiable--namely, the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent civilians in
our attempt to target a very small group of terrorists." (James Dawes, NYT,
September 14, 2001)

Be well,

Piibe

************************************************
Petition for a Thoughtful U.S. Response.
*************************************************

Please sign The Petition at http://home.uchicago.edu/~dhpicker/petition
which appeals to world leaders to be level-headed and, wherever possible,
peaceful in their response to the recent attack against the United States.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, AS QUICKLY AS
POSSIBLE. The signatures logged by the website above will be forwarded to
leaders around the world. It is imperative that we act quickly to prevent
war!!!

Thank you.