Apparently two airplanes have hit the World Trade Center buildings this morning! Man, the news sites get slow in these circumstances.<br><br>Keith Chapman, Annapolis, Md.
<br>H-18
<br>Northstar 500 (monoslug)
<br>WRCRA - www.wrcra.org

There was just a third strike against the Pentagon. Looks like heavy casualtys there also.
<br>
<br>At least we have a president that isnt a wus.
<br>Hopefully we will get to use all those Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapons we have been stockpiling.
<br>
<br>As long as we can nail down Bin Lauden to a 1000 square mile area, 4 25 megaton warheads should do it. Of course you would want to follow up with a binary nerve agent strike to finish off any of the survivors.
<br>
<br>And if by chance we miss him the first time. we have 11000 warheads left for a second strike.
<br>
<br>Eric
<br><br><br>

Low life cowards have a way of delving out their kind of justice by using someone else's life and liberty. I've just heard that a helipad at the pentagon has also been bombed. I hope whoever is
<br> responsible is caught and has the worst punishment given to them in return. I'm not
<br> normally this kind of person, but this is uncalled for!
<br>
<br> Rick Smith - Proud to be an American!
<br> Isotope 1953<br><br>

Unbelieveable!
<br>We saw a clip of the Palestinians rah! rahing! in the street. This is the second Pearl Harbor, but then we had a defined enemy to retaliate against.
<br>Sad day! Mary and I are glued to the TV and fear for other strikes in the U.S.
<br>God Bless America!
<br>Rick<br><br>Rick White
<br>Catamaran Sailor Magazine
<br>email: rick@catsailor.com

Rick and Mary and others who read this forum from around the world:
<br>
<br>While the acts against the United States of America of September 11, 2001 are horrific, those around the world committed to disrupting us as a nation will only find as the Japanese did in 1941 that this sort terrorism will only serve to strengthen us as a nation and once again draw us back together in a united front and a stronger nation.
<br>
<br>For those responsible: YOU HAVE REAWOKEN THE GIANT
<br>
<br>The USA will continue on as a wonderful place to live filled with good people and a great way of life.
<br>
<br>My heart goes out to all of you who are personally touched by the loss of life that this act has caused. However, I do not fear for my family's life nor my own. Those responsible should know that life goes on here despite the images brought to us through the varius mediums available in our daily lives.
<br>
<br>Mark Michaelsen
<br>Son of a diplomat and proud to be American
<br><br><br>Mark Michaelsen
<br>www.sailingproshop.com
<br>(800) 354-7245

This type of action is in response to our country suposedly trying to further the peace process. History has shown that those people who fight as those in Palestine and some of the Arab countries have always fought and will always fight. Their cause is not anything that you can win at. Their leaders preach that they are right and every one else is wrong. People will always lose regardless of who is right. I have a good friend who's son stepped in to stop a fight at a bar and guess what? He was killed as a result!
<br>Mark is right this should serve to make us stronger as a country, we can overcome this if we work together. Undivided we stand.
<br>I'm starting to ramble...
<br>My prayers are with the people affected by this tradegy.
<br>
<br>Clayton<br><br>

Beirut, sept 11(Reuters) - Palestinians in Lebanon greeted news of devastating attacks on American targets on Tuesday with jubilant gunfire, dancing and cheering, saying Israel's chief backer deserved such a punishment.
<br>...
<br>"This is the reaction required to confront the American and Israeli arrogance" - Mohammad Hallak 40 year old...
<br>-------------------
<br>
<br>I do not recall Americans or Israelis ever being happy about people dying - any people, anywhere.
<br>The worship of hate and death is unacceptable to human society.
<br>A proper answer from the (civilized) World, not only from the US, is necessary.
<br><br><br>Luiz

When I heard the news this morning I felt sick. It's starting up all over again. The people who staged these cowardly terrorist attacks have declared war -- if ANY nation/state is in support of these attacks then they are fair and wide open targets.
<br>
<br>I had the misfortune of seeing Sen. Bieden (sp?) on ABC and he just about made me puke. His spineless, weak kneed, watery boweled statement that he "hopes its not true" that we are in a state of war is beyond explanation.
<br>
<br>I'm praying for the victims and families in NY, Washington DC, on the hijacked airliners and for our police, fire, and military personnel who are at this time in harms way.
<br>
<br>Our carriers and battlegroups are out to sea or will be soon. Our aircraft are over US cities at this time. Our military bases are on threat alert that we haven't seen since Desert Storm. Our weapons are locked and loaded -- all we need now is a clear target -- we already have the "Clear and Present Danger".
<br>
<br>I'm retired USAF. I'm the son of a WWII era Marine. I'm the father of a serving Marine. I want some butt and about a C5 transport worth of these people's hearts.
<br>
<br>If it's a holy war these people want then we ought to take it to them! No "police action" , no "peacekeeping force"...just pure unadulterated Hell rained down on their heads.
<br>
<br>Am I mad? -- you bet your butt. Do I want revenge? Hell yes. Do I want a war? Not on your life -- but these people fired the first shot and some (maybe not associated but in agreement) are cheering in the streets. Well, let the games begin. And I'm hoping it's not a push button war -- land the Army and Marines. Take the ground. Don't stop until we've captured or killed the leadership of ANY nation or group that had part directly or indirectly in today's new "Day of Infamy".
<br>
<br>David Little
<br>Master Sergeant, USAF (RET)<br><br>

This is a link to a photo I just found. Really makes me sick to think someone was this deliberate. http://www.drudgereport.com/ War isn't something a lot of people want. However, innocent people's lives have been taken.
<br>
<br> Rick Smith<br><br>

Our prayers go out to the victims of this trajedy. Acts such as this are cowardly and promulgated by the week hiding behind the facade of religious beliefs. There is NO religion in the world that preaches the utter disregard for the sanctity of human life. Those that stand up and use this WORLD trajedy to critisize US foreign policy should get what they are asking for; a decisive, deliberate and complete demonstration of the resolve of the democratic way of life in allowing them to meet their god in very short order.
<br>
<br>To see the demonstrations in the streets, celebrating the taking of innocent lives is sickening. To see it happening in the streets within our country is even more sickening. I am impressed with President Bush's remarks that the US will make NO distinction between the groups responsible for this act of lunacy and cowardice, and the countries and governments that harbour them.
<br>
<br>This sort of act does not throw American's into chaos, it strenghthens our resolve and brings us together.
<br>
<br>God Bless America.
<br>
<br>- An American living abroad.
<br>
<br>Cheers!<br><br>

I put down unfinished the last hundred pages of Tom Clancy's "Executive Orders" today to watch CNN. The juxtaposition is surreal. The story opens immediately after a 747 is piloted deliberately into the capitol building, during a joint session of the house and senate. To hear on the news that 3 jumbo jets had been used as bombs... surreal, especially when Tom Clancy got on CNN to comment.
<br>
<br>The author of "The hunt for Red October", "Clear and Present Danger" and "Patriot Games" had something important to say.
<br>
<br>For those who haven't had the pleasure of reading his books, Clancy is a strong advocate of honesty, fair play, and whale-the-living-snot-outta-the-bad-guys, be they terrorists, drug dealers, traitors or nations positing harm to America or Americans.
<br>
<br>He had this to say, today: This is likely to prove religious in nature. Suicide attacks are hard to find volunteers for, unless the volunteer expects a great reward on the other side of his death.
<br>America is a country that practices freedom of religion - - all religions. Muslims believe in a just and loving God, just as we do. We're not at war with a religion. Somebody has perverted the teachings of that religion. That person, and his organization, is our enemy.
<br>
<br>I add this, to Mr. Clancy's remarks today. (Much of it is derived from his novel.) We Americans live in a free and open society. Many politicians and pundits on-air today pointed out that many aspects of our culture make us the easiest target on the planet for this type of attack.
<br>
<br>On the other hand, an attack like this wasn't hatched in a mobile home in the hinterlands. The most reasonable scenario is that this was another product of state-sponsored terrorism.
<br>
<br>As I see it, we have two futures to choose from for ourselves.
<br>
<br>We could choose to hunker down, drawing up to our chins the comforting security of a strong and vigilant array of protecting organizations. Successful models exist in the Middle East, where armed guards search luggage, and more of them ride airliners. Soldiers patrol the streets, and demonstrations are met with force that makes the infamous Kent State massacre seem like a lover's quarrel. Oh, we'd all have to sacrifice a few of our many freedoms, but hey, it's a small price to pay, right?
<br>
<br>Or we could choose a much more difficult course. Be warned; it's not for the faint of heart. It is now clear that we cannot by acting alone protect our citizens from harm without surrendering some of our cherished freedoms in order to do so. If our freedoms are important to us, then no nation can any longer be permitted to pass itself off as a "Sovereign" one if that nation cannot or will not take responsibility for the actions of the people living within its borders. Sounds easy? Think of the several remaining "culture wars" on the planet - - thanks to our multicultural society, America has interest in both sides of most of them. Now imagine telling any state that sponsors or tolerates terrorist acts in furtherance of its agenda that we will no longer treat with them as a Sovereign nation, and that, having declared war on terrorists, we must view their country as de facto allies of our enemies.
<br>
<br>Yet this is exactly the course I believe is right. We expect no less of our neighbors, do we? If my son should hit his baseball through your window, I trust he'd ring your doorbell and apologize. But if he needed some "encouragement" in this, the first thing after I bring him over to apologize, and use his future allowance to make you whole, we're gonna sit down and have a long talk about good citizenship.
<br>
<br>Why then do we allow the leaders of several foreign states to claim with straight faces that they have no control over the people in their own "Sovereign" land? Why do we accord such cretins the same respect we show to, say, England? Why is it an act of war only if the person harming an American is wearing his nation's military insignia? Are we actually comfortable with the ridiculous notion that another nation's deliberate acts are more provocative than its deliberate failure to act? Aren't sins of purposeful omission just as fatal, just as culpable, as those of commission?
<br>
<br>If it is proved that this plot was masterminded by Osama bin Laden, fundamentalist-billionaire-American-hater, then we have an especially acute example of this farcical state of affairs. Our government for years has sought to extradite bin Laden, from Afghanistan but the Taliban government has steadfastly denied our requests, and this is the country America supported when the Soviets invaded it! I was pleased today to hear leader after leader proclaim this heinous mass murder an act of war, and to urge a reciprocal declaration of war against the terrorists and "whoever harbors them."
<br>
<br>But there's the real risk - - to vent our anger chasing one terrorist organization, and dissuading nations from continuing to give sanctuary to them, while vapidly choosing neither to protect ourselves more carefully (and restrictingly) nor to embark on a policy to require the nations of our planet to foreswear terrorism.
<br>In the name of the living human beings, the mothers and fathers, the lovers and the dreamers, the thousand-plus people who's hopes, loves, dreams and very lives were snuffed out in an act of openly declared war, let us in their name declare war on all terrorism, everywhere. In so doing, we make any nation tolerating such criminals into "allies of our enemies." Let us respond to the fine speeches of support from our sister nations today with invitations to sign an "anti-terrorism" alliance and treaty.
<br>
<br>Certainly there are problems with doing so. Some of the cultures we've chosen to call "good guys" or at least "not entirely bad guys" have been using terrorism to hold on to their homelands for decades against more powerful neighbors - - neighbors we also call "good guys." Real security for us will lie only in stating unequivocally that "good guys" can't keep doing bad things to each other - - that neither possessing another culture's homeland nor bombing civilians to retain one's homeland are acceptable in today's world. We've tried reasoning with these people, all over the globe. We've tried waiting for them to grow out of their disputes. We've tried helping them to agree to resolve them. We've even tried paying them to stop killing each other. Today's massacre was the result of our forebearance.
<br>
<br>Enough. It's time to take the deadly toys away from the people who don't show the moral evolution to be responsible for them. A few years ago, 24 Tomahawk missiles "taught" terrorists around the world exactly nothing. If anything, those missiles were great for recruiting more terrorists. Only sustained, resolute military action coupled with relentless international diplomatic pressure will put these craven murderers out of our world for good.
<br>
<br>The only meaningful deed to perform for today's dead is to remember them; and in their name to change the world for the better. Indeed, to do anything less is unconscionable.
<br>
<br>Ed Norris
<br><br><br>

****. If our guys were so good, this wouldn't have happened. I'm appalled that in the "richest nation in the world," such a blatant, simple, terrorist act could have happened without SOMEONE having a clue. G.Zeus, my cynicism has me wondering whether this was staged in order to create a war to improve the economy? Politicians are sonovabitches enough to do such a thing...
<br>
<br>Security at airports? I can't think of the times I've walked onto planes, running my purse through the Xray and not a word. Wanna know what's in my purse? My DIVE KNIFE. It's big. It's serrated. It's stainless. I keep it on me all the time. It's been to Ft. Lauderdale on Continental, it's been to Houston on Continental, it's been to Biloxi on AirTran. We've been damned lucky this hasn't happened before now. The butchery should be a lesson to us.
<br>
<br>Maybe this will teach us to listen to Israel. G.Zeus, you don't get a vet to do a brain surgeon's job. Let's hire the Zionists. That'll keep our hands clean which should satisfy the liberals, and do the job, which should satisfy the conservatives. Fund the Zionists, give them whatever in the Hell they want to wipe these bastards from the face of the Earth. Get them to train us in anti-terrorist methods and then we can do it ourselves, for that matter. Israel IS the best, remember Entebbe? Did we pull anything like that off without some politician blabbing... remember Ethiopia? Hasn't anyone asked themselves how that tiny country, completely surrounded by hostile, powerful, RICH, nations, has survived this long? Yeah, they get some help from us, but it's always been not enough and shamefully given, don't tell me there's no anti-Semitism. And in any event, since we've been helping Israel, let them help us right back...
<br>
<br>In the name of the suffering and dead, let us leave no stone unturned and use whatever we must to avenge this vicious act...
<br>
<br>Then maybe we will have
<br>Shalom,
<br>tami<br><br>

+Amen...I support your view. Nobody wants a war, but don`t come messin with us if you don`t want to get down.
<br>Let`s hope our leadership has the fortitude to do what most Americans want done...even though they may not publicly express their true feelings. Say a prayer that our leaders make a decision that will set a precident to others who would wish harm on America, or ANY other country. In life, as in raising children, learning the principals of accountability for one`s actions at an early age will guarantee some degree of concious. Teach these people about accountability before they get into positions of real power.
<br>
<br>Eric<br><br>

Anyone who's ever read the book "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank will also see some similarities to the recent terrorist acts. Thankfully we weren't fired upon by nuclear weapons, as is the scenario in the book.
<br>
<br>My prayers, like all of yours, go to all of those who have been hurt by this amoral act.
<br>
<br>I'll be the first to admit that I am poorly versed in politics, in military strategy. I know that those zealots who are the suspected terrorists will see any retaliation by the U.S. as martyrdom, as a blessed avenue to heaven. But I feel like we can't let that stop us from taking action to eradicate as many "cells" of this organization as we can justifiable reach. Experts say that these people will be ready, will expect a retaliation. Well, we'll be ready too. Support for American military action has never been higher. That should tell everyone that we as a nation are ready to put our foot down and say, "No more."
<br>
<br>I left work yesterday for lunch, looking across the Coosa River in Montgomery, Alabama, half expecting to be able to see the smoke and ash, hear the screams all the way from the East Coast. Nothing makes you feel more helpless, or more angry.<br><br>

TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES
<br>
<br>This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.
<br>
<br>America: The Good Neighbor.
<br>
<br>Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television Commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:
<br>
<br>"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts.
<br>None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw
<br>it.
<br>When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
<br>I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly
<br>them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
<br>Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.
<br>You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and
<br>pa at home to spend here.
<br>When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.
<br> I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
<br>Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
<br>I hope Canada is not one of those."
<br>Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!!
<br><br><br>Rick White
<br>Catamaran Sailor Magazine
<br>email: rick@catsailor.com

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Michaelson. I live and work in Manhatten and words cannot describe the things I have seen and been through in the last 48 hours. The stories of friends running to "escape", friends who are still missing, parents of friends who are missing, fiancees who are missing, the look of terror on everyone's face as we walk up Sixth Avenue and a plane flies overhead, the feeling of relief when weI see it's USAF F-15, I could go on and on about what we've seen here.
<br>
<br>I thought maybe I had seen and heard all that there was to see and hear, until last night I watched as they evacuated the Empire State Building. I then realized just how badly they had hit us. I was filled with such intense anxiety and anger at that moment, If I could've gotten on a plane, I would have flown to Afghanistan myself. We can talk about how this could've happened, we can point fingers at who screwed up, but we cannot change what has happened. All we can do is retaliate in a way to prevent this from happening again, and then, we must begin rebuilding.
<br>
<br>If I were in the middle East right now, I would be very afraid. These people have awoken the sleeping giant. Not only awoken, but made angry beyond belief. People here are calling for war. We are willing to accept American casualties if it means getting those reponsible. My initial reaction was to erradicate every country that has ever been soft on terrorism. I mean nuclear weapons. I mean nuclear winter. I mean wiping countries off the face of the earth.
<br>
<br>I know this is anger and I know my initial reaction is wrong. But I do know that we need to retaliate and go after every terrorist cell in every country. Mercy should not be granted to those governments who are partially responsible for this. I hope everyone realizes how serious this is. The personal and economic impact of this is far worse than anyone can imagine. I work in construction, and we have closed our jobs down to send our Iron Workers to the WTC with cutting torches to help in the rescue.
<br>
<br>I hope everyone realizes the severity of this attack, and realizes that no matter where you live, your way of life is under attack. Only then will the support required for the military campaign to ensure our way of life, is achieved. Let us find resolution to this tragedy swiftly and begin the rebuilding as soon as possible.
<br>
<br>My prayers are with all those who are suffering through this.
<br>
<br>Fair Winds
<br>
<br>Todd Berget
<br>Times Square, NYC
<br>Tornado USA655
<br>www.fleet250.org
<br>
<br><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by Todd Berget on 09/13/01 08:56 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

This article was published in the Miami Herald today,
<br>
<br>by Leonard Pitts, Jr.:
<br>
<br>We’ll go forward from this moment It’s my job to have something to say.
<br>They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.
<br>
<br>You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward’s attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know
<br>that you failed. Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together. Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We’re frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae—a singer’s revealing dress, a ball team’s misfortune, a cartoon mouse.
<br>We’re wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement.
<br>We are fundamentally decent, though—peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God. Some people—you, perhaps—think that any or all of this makes us weak. You’re mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.
<br>
<br>IN PAIN
<br>Yes, we’re in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We’re still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn’t a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn’t the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.
<br>
<br>Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You’ve bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But there’s a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyonebrought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice. I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I
<br>think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future. In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We’ll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.
<br>
<br>THE STEEL IN US
<br>You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don’t know us well. On this day, the family’s bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
<br>
<br>So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that’s the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange:
<br>You don’t know my people. You don’t know what we’re capable of. You don’t know what you just started.
<br>But you’re about to learn.
<br>
<br>MY feelings precisely!
<br>
<br>Don Cook<br><br>

I think killing is wrong. Violence is an ugly part of humanity. However, sometimes, you just have to stop turning the other cheek. Think it would be a nice reminder to future terrorists if we let these bastards sleep under a pool of molten glass.<br><br>Hobie 17
<br>"MISTER LUCKY"

I'm known to have my disagreements but this attack is way out of proportion and is an indication of a group that has lost their humanity completely.
<br>
<br>My condolences to all, it was shocking to hear this news and indeed all over the world people were stunned and disgusted. All over the world our thought were with the casualties even as far away as on the little Greek Island I was on when we heard this dreadful news.
<br>
<br>Wouter<br><br>