Our Next Step

 

William B. Garvey

 

 

I will never forget the strange mix of terror and happiness in my fathers voice the afternoon of September 11, 2001.  Knowing his proximity to the World Trade Center(3 blocks), and seeing the terrifying images of the attack on the television screen, I rushed to a phone after class and tried desperately to make contact.  The moments that followed seemed like forever.  Because of the tie-up in the phone lines, it took about 15 minutes to get through to New York.  When I finally did get through, I was relieved to hear his familiar voice.  He seemed to feel lucky that he had been fortunate enough to make it out of the terror alive.  At the same time, he talked about the difficulty he was already having in getting the horrific events he had witnessed out of his mind.  He recounted seeing both Towers fall and the searing images of groups of human beings jumping out of burning buildings hand in hand.  Those indelible images will surely stay with him and with us for a lifetime. 

 

This story illustrates just how personally the catastrophe has hit home for me.  As an American, I believe it has changed the course of our lives, and there are several ways I see America going from here.  Many individuals have called for peace, while others for an all out retaliatory strike.  I don’t think the question is that simple.  It is now up to our leaders to make these difficult choices which may change our way of life as we know it, and we are going to have to make some strong decisions as citizens in order to let them know what we believe needs to get done. 

 

I think we have to acknowledge that this event was not an isolated incident.  It has made a direct impact on the way each and every American born in this era will live their life.  I will never again feel safe while riding in an airplane and that prospect frightens me. If we are no longer safe to do the simple things such as take a trip or go to a ballgame, how can we feel that we are free?  In the end, the point of all this seems not only to be an attack on our country, but rather an attack on our freedom.

 

One of the most horrifying things I witnessed in this terrible massacre was the image on televison of hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian people cheering in the streets at our terror.  As a nation, I think our question is not just to ask whom to punish for this assault on our freedom, but rather what factors led to such a horrific act.  When it is a regularity to turn on the television and see images of young Palestinian children dressed up as their favorite suicide bomber or terrorist, we know something has deeply affected these people.  The question for the United States going forward has got to be one which tries to address the problems in the Middle East, not just to irradicate them through force and violence.

 

The US policy in the Middle East has been riddled with trouble since the inception of Israel.  For centuries, the peoples in the Palestine region have been arguing over the balance of power in the area, and it is foolish for any one country or entity to think that the problem will end any time soon.  While numerous peace-making efforts have been made in the past on behalf of the US and many of the Middle Eastern countries, more needs to be done in regards to looking at what policies in particular may have provoked these attacks. 

 

Although many believe these attacks must have been the work of madmen, I am inclined to disagree.  The individuals who planned this attack were very thorough, extremely meticulous planners.  While they may in fact be ruthless and vile for killing innocent civilians, in their minds they felt it was justified.  And it is this thought that makes the “war on terrorism” such a scary one.  If individuals are willing to sacrifice their lives to take part in what they believe to be a holy war, what can we do to stop them? 

 

Currently, President Bush is presenting a policy that would attempt to wage war on all terrorists around the world.  To me, the likely-hood of being able to end terrorism is about as likely as achieving a Utopian society.  While this may be an extremely cynical thought, we must take into consideration the likelihood of a never-ending war and the effects such a war would have on our nation and our way of life.  We have been lucky to grow up in a period where our generation has not known the feeling of losing it’s loved ones to the war effort, and peace and prosperity have reigned.  I fear that time has ended.  And while everyone agrees that terrorists are a threat to our democracy and should be dealt with as such, it is unlikely that we can destroy terrorism through force alone.  We must seek out and bring to justice all those who are in any way responsible for this horrible injustice brought upon us.  At the same time we must look to how we can diplomatically go about preventing these kinds of terrible things from happening again in the future.

 

One terrorist who has stuck out as the leader of the terrorist movement against the United States is Osama bin Laden.  Being that he is a man with no regard for any American life, I feel it should be our primary concern to seek him out and bring him to justice. Any person who preaches a mantra of killing innocent Amercians whenever and however possible must be brought to swift justice in order to protect our safety. However, it is certainly a difficult situation to consider.  We must realize that the problem does not end at bin Laden.  While killing him may be some sort of retribution for all the horror, pain and anguish we have been through in these last few weeks, it will by no means end the terrorist threat.  In fact, there is a strong likelihood that the death of bin Laden could spawn dozens more like him.  How do we go about ridding the world of terrorism?  No one knows, but the death of bin Laden will surely not be a definitive end to the terror.

 

Looking back on the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001, one cannot help but be amazed and horrified as to what unfolded that day. In the midst of peace there was again war, only this time the war was one with no true enemy, and no true homeland.  The question of what to do next looms large over our leaders, and it is up to all of us to try and help them come to a wise and noble decision. It is our duty as Americans to speak out when we have something to say, and now is the time for such outspokenness.  Our political leaders are doing what they feel is right, and if we don’t agree we must tell them.  We must stand united in the face of adversity, and battle this terror that has struck so close to home.  Those individuals who don’t believe in our actions should continue to speak out against what they believe is wrong.  For after all, it is allowing free speech even in the face of trying times that makes this country so great.  And what I know is clear: whatever should occur over the forthcoming months, this much is true, that while our lives may never again be the same, we will survive, and we will prevail.