Before I respond I want to reiterate that the attack on the USA was an awful event. No one should ever have to live through that kind of terror. I think and pray about this event many times a day.

> > How can we ever make sure someone else in
> >incapable of threatening "us"?
>
> By hitting them with such devestating force that they are incapable of responding in kind.

(rant on)
How far are you willing to go? Taking your statement to the extreme "we" would have to kill almost everyone else because no matter how many people we kill there are some left who feel that they have no option but to respond in kind. And it will never end until just a few people are left standing.

I am the parent of 2 small girls. When someone hits them should I be advocating that they try to take off "Jane's" arms so that she can't ever hit them again? This is an extreme example but that is where I see this going. Retaliation and escalation does not solve anything. It hasn't solved anything in Ireland, it hasn't in Israel.

The best example of an alternate way that I can point to is South Africa. Life may not be perfect there and they have many problems to overcome yet but if the Blacks had responded to the treatment they received in kind it would have been another Rwanda or worse. Demonizing the "enemy" and doing anything to eliminate them brings us down to their level and then no one wins and everyone is in that much more danger.

I don't expect to ever live in a "safe" world. There are too many sinful people out there (including me) but I will continue to advocate for a different way of responding because I don't see any evidence in the world today that force works for very long. In some situations it may work for a while but there always seems to be someone who nurses the grudge until they can respond. Even in Germany look at the rise of the Neo Nazi groups and the anti-immigrant sentiments that come out from time to time.

(rant off)