9/11/01

One of the most over-used phrases you hear in regard to the 9/11 tragedy goes something like "Not all Moslems are terrorists, but all terrorists are Moslems." Another is the mistaken rhetoric involving what has been erroneously labeled "The War on Terrorism," sometimes shortened to, "The War on Terror," in the same simplistic way one might have a "War on Drugs," or a "War on Poverty," only with bombs.

By now, enough experts on the terminology of conflict have instructed us that only Congress can declare a State of War under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which it has not formally announced since World War II. In 1973, Congress, in response to the escalating conflict in Vietnam, passed the War Powers Act (technically, the War Powers Resolution) requiring presidents to seek congressional approval within 90 days after introducing troops into hostile action.

Whatever the means, methods, or label... we now find ourselves entangled in an unending hostile military conflict in which neither side can win. It has robbed us of -- and will take for the unforeseeable future -- the lives of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and fathers and mothers, from many countries, needlessly, regardless of how most of us feel. It's been inflicted upon us all, and now that it has started, there's nothing we can do about it.

The single solution lies within the worldwide Moslem community itself. There's just no way to rid ourselves of every radical Moslem fundamentalist bent on striking out at the world as they seek revenge for some insult, real or imagined, and it's impossible to predict where or when terrorism will rear its ugly head in some perverted sense of justice-seeking for the poor and downtrodden members of that society. However, what is clear is that only when the larger, non-aggressive, truly compassionate, peace-loving members of the Moslem culture soundly reject the destructive activities of the terrorist few, and express their disapproval loudly and in unison, will peace return to our lives, and theirs.