Usama Bin Laden's name is coming up repeatedly in this, and I'm sure he is at the very top of the list of suspects. He has in the past sheltered within the borders of various Islamic governments, secure from capture. Surely now there is NO safe haven on Earth for him. True, he is only a suspect in this, but he has been positively determined responsible for several other terrorist attacks. Now is the time to take all measures necessary, regardless of any other government, to arrest this man. Any government harboring him must be identified as an enemy of the United States. Any country who HAS harbored him must actively participate in the search for him, or be considered an enemy.

Pearl Harbor certainly comes to mind, but with terrific differences : Japan was the acknowledged source of the attack, and our anger could be focussed on them as the perpetrators. This horrible attack so far is of unknown origin, and frustration trumps the anger.

I dread to hear the numbers of victims involved. Thousands of people worked in the World Trade Center.

In the wake of this, the greatest damage may accrue : The loss of freedom and peace in the name of retribution.

I have no time for consideration of the reasons and sentiments behind this action. The perpetrators were motivated by unreasoning hate. They killed possible thousands of innocent people indiscriminately. Their motives deserve no examination. We should, however, act against them with reasoned but merciless retaliation.