This site is free of advertising. Nothing is for sale. We refuse to profit from tragedy. The purpose of this site is to allow the great people of the United States of America to share their thoughts and stay informed about the attack and subsequent events.

This site is brought to you by WebSeed Publishing and its contributing writers. More than 700 writers, authors and professional journalists are involved in the WebSeed Publishing content network.

"As for those that carried out these attacks, there are no adequate words of condemnation. Their barbarism will stand as their shame for all eternity."
-Tony Blair, PM of Great Britain.
Click Here for full speech.

"Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done."
-George Bush, President of the United States.
Click Here for full speech.

Dee says: This is the latest article...more thoughtful.. The Real Battle Has Just Begun by Candida Bohnne-Eittreim Our hearts have gone out to the peoples of Afghanistan. Images of stark poverty and despair have breached our defenses, overcoming our own pain and hurt. All across America, people are giving, reaching out in hundreds of ways, to ease the suffering they see. Especially among the women and children who have endured so much, for so little reason.

We all want so very badly for Afghanistan to be rebuilt and become a safe open society. I know, I get impatient, when I still see women wearing the burq, wanting to shake them, saying-"it's over! It's safe, you don't need to wear this hideous symbol of oppression anymore" Like the rest of us, I want to see women walking free, happy, educated, healthy, and above all, respected members of their culture.

The harsh reality is, it's not safe, and the road ahead is full of snares and pitfalls. The real battle has just begun in Afghanistan, and it is the most dangerous of all. Afghanistan is not a united country by any means, but made up of various tribal factions: Pashtuns, the Northern Alliance, the Eastern Alliance, and other tribal cultures. Minister Karzai is already experiencing difficulties, with two recent appointees, including his new Minister of Defense. There is mounting pressure to reduce or eliminate peace keeping forces, before they have even established themselves. There is no sense of loyalty as a nation, but each to his own tribal area. This is going to take intense monitoring and scrutiny. There are many hidden pockets of resistance still in country, including Al Qaeda, waiting to surface, with the help of sympathizers. It is a dangerously unstable environment, ready to collapse at the least provocation.

Women, in some areas of the country are still not safe, as there are many fundamentalists living among them. And some women wear the burq by choice. This is part of their cultural/religious upbringing, and as repellant as it is to western women, it is part of who these women are. But even women who are educated and have professions, express apprehension over the long term stability of the region, and their own futures. So, even amidst the joy and hope, there is intense mistrust and fear.

We cannot walk away from Afghanistan again. We can't bow to pressure to leave this country to sort itself out. They have had 20 years of war and oppression. Tribal fighting is just as vicious and fierce as any Al Qaeda assault. This country has led a near stone age existence for a very long time. And, it will take intensive training and help bring it into the 21st century, without trying to change their culture. The goal here is to help rebuild their infrastructure, modernize their medical and education systems and make certain they are self supporting. We, meaning the global community, need to help them find ways to work out a fair and just system of governance. What we must not do, is impose our system on them.

One of the least discussed, but biggest "hot" spots, concerns the growing of opium. Afghanistan is the largest producer of this crop. We have to make this a priority, to restore their agriculture, with a variety of crops they can feed their country with, and find alternative sources of cash so that opium production can be eradicated. The specter of Viet Nam rears its ugly head here, but I truly believe we have learned from our mistakes in this respect. If we don't make this a condition of receiving aid from the world community, we are at best hypocrites. As long as heroin manufacture continues in Afghanistan, the conditions will exist for a repeat of the last 20 years. We can't mouth words of pious morality, and speak of the rightness of our position in this fight, if we allow narcotics trafficking to continue. This perhaps, is one of the most difficult tasks we in the Western world face in this ongoing struggle.

This war will not end with the capture or death of Bin Laden, or even the arrest of every Al Qaeda member. The men and women of our Armed Forces are in for a long and sustained stay in the region. Our intelligence community, which has performed superbly in this effort, is going to require our support. As President Bush has repeatedly stated, "we are in this for the long haul". It is going to require Americans to be patient and understanding about what we hope to accomplish over there. We must remain resolved that the September 11th massacre will be the last one. And that we help clean out the fertile breeding grounds of terror, wherever they are. If we, as a people waver in our support for this campaign against terror, we will pay a much greater price than we have already. We helped create the conditions that led to this attack, by abandoning Afghanistan 20 years ago. We can't allow this to happen again.

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This site is free of advertising. Nothing is for sale. We refuse to profit from tragedy. The purpose of this site is to allow the great people of the United States of America to share their thoughts and stay informed about the attack and subsequent events.

This site is brought to you by WebSeed Publishing and its contributing writers. More than 700 writers, authors and professional journalists are involved in the WebSeed Publishing content network.

"As for those that carried out these attacks, there are no adequate words of condemnation. Their barbarism will stand as their shame for all eternity."
-Tony Blair, PM of Great Britain.
Click Here for full speech.

"Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done."
-George Bush, President of the United States.
Click Here for full speech.

Dee says, this is the first article, more reactionary...   Why War Is The Answer by Hemm An ex-soldier/active op sheds a light on why war is the only way to fight terrorism.

On September 11, 2001, for most Americans, a war that has been waged against it’s people and beliefs finally came home. Most are not aware of the thousands of American lives that have been lost in the last 12 years of this silent war. This is mostly because it was not considered news worth as other events that were happening during the time they happened.

Though I respect Ruth Cherubin’s right to express herself anyway she wishes to, after all it’s still a free country, I find it this sort of rhetoric familiar for those who run on full emotions, and selective reasoning of what’s going on in the real world.

Ruth uses words such as "they" and "them", which are perfectly good words to use to spout one’s opinion without trying to back it up with facts. Ruth who are they?.

Are you referring to the voices heard on radio talk shows? Those voices who do not dictate policy?

Your quote from the President, "Expect this war to be long", as usual with such people who run on high emotion and empty heads, the rest of what was said was left out. Only because it would have not allowed you to use it within the way you want people to think it to mean. It was this very misuse of the quote itself which prompted me to check out the rest of your so called quotes. All I can say is that you were very selective. You can scare people by drawing up images of Vietnam, and end of the world scenarios all you want, but it will not change the facts, the cold hard truth.

There will be no nukes, or carpet bombings that you hint at; this is not a standard, conventional war. First, these people have to be identified, and then taken out with extreme surgical strikes. The United States of American is not trying to be the "benevolent protector" as you suggest. It’s taking care of itself, and looking out for it’s people as it should.

I do agree with you that "caution is necessary", target’s should be checked out and verified, and checked out and verified again before action is taken. However, to sit back and do nothing is only inviting more of the same.

You conveniently take separate world issues and lump them into grossly bastardized summary. So let’s take them on one at a time. The "surgical" bombing of Quaddafi did solve much, since then he has toned down his stance on the US and is at this moment helping with the intelligence gathering. The Gulf War did reach all it’s targeted objectives, and did gain the results that were on the scat sheets. Those are two separate issues that you are trying to drag in and lump with the events on September 11th, 2001, instead of looking at the real problem itself.

This war has been going on for a very long, long time now, and like many other things, most people are not aware of what is going on, or couldn’t care less until it happens in their own back yard. You suggest peace, well my words to you Ruth are simple. How do you propose peace to a group who only want to see you dead, who are willing to die themselves just to get a few more of us? How many more have to die before you wake up and smell the coffee. Does a neighbor have to die first? Your son? Your daughter? Your husband?

The only peace that can be reached with these sort of terrorist cells is by yours and my death. If you somehow gained peace, what sort of peace would it be Ruth? Peace under the threat of violence or death is not peace at all.

Currently there are over 176 separate terrorist cells out there, each with it’s own agenda. Out of the 176 separate terrorist cells around, 14 are extremely effective due to good management skills, and financial backing to pull off their operations. So of these remaining 14 cells, there are 14 different agendas. Currently known to date, 8 of these cells operational beliefs work against each other. So you tell me Ruth, which terrorist cells do you work out a peace with? (Only to anger another I might add).

Unfortunately in responding to your article Ruth, I’ve had to be vague, though I have left more than enough clues in this article so that those who wish to can find the facts I’m hinting at and more. I have spent a total of 16 years as an active op, and am now into my third year of passive ops.

I have a family and friends just like you Ruth, and like you I want nothing to happen to them. This war is being waged on civilians, not just soldiers. But unlike you I know the facts, and so can you if you do your homework, know your enemy. I truly pray that nothing more happens so that you can maintain your narrow and one sided view of the world. I know I have not changed your mind or the minds of those that agree with you, and I never will, nor am I trying to. I’m just giving you the facts, and hints on how to find out more. Do I like war? No, though I am more than willing to wage war on anyone who threatens the lives of my children.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Hemm

Note: If you wish to make a comment on Hemm's insight, contact the Senior Editor or have questions, contact Hemm directly.

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