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Dear Camilla .
You did draw a clear picture of the delicate and complex situation a conscious  nation has
to face to combat terrorism nowadays . In case of a real war seems to me impossible a full
shelter and protection to all of innocents civilians from the actions such war would
necessarily demand . A cynic would say : "can't make omelet without breaking eggs". On the
other hand the terrorists do not take in account the harm and death they inflict to the
innocents in their purposes .
God bless America.
Best wishes,

Camilla Flintermann wrote:

> To my dear email friend Carole, and all of you---
>
> No one I have heard has EVER suggested that the terrorists who
> carried out these horrible acts should NOT be found and punished, nor
> would I say that---the problem I and others see it is that in the
> rush of fear and  rage  it is too easy to forget how complicated the
> matter of whom -and-how to punish has become.
>
>   Our government has told us that this is not a matter of a few cruise
> missiles.  They estimate dozens of terrorist "networks" scattered
> around the world---and we know from the defeat of Russia there that
> Afghanistan is not an easy place to conquer militarily, even with
> ground troops.  Terrorist cells don't have infrastructure that can be
> targeted, and so it seems the the targets of our retaliation will be
> "countries who support them"--and I understand that to involve the
> targeting of civilians as innocent as were the victims here.   Many
> sources have also warned us against lashing out at anyone who seems
> to be "Arabic"  as happened to Americans of German ancestry in WW1
> and of Japanese ancestry in WW2.
>
> Beyond that, I believe we will never solve the problem of terrorists
> and hatred against our beloved America until we find ways to address
> the hopelessness and frustration of people in countries where Islamic
> Fundamentalism (very different from Islam as a whole) has taken root.
> These roots are historic and economic as well as religious--in fact
> religious Fundamentalists have taken advantage of the hopeless
> desperation of the people to come to power, offering a way to assert
> themselves and gain some control of their lives.  In other words,
> there are many reasons why America, seen from their perspective as a
> rich, powerful and exploitative "colonial" power,  has been targeted.
>
> Other Western countries have struggled with terrorism for
> years--Spain against the Basque separatists, England against the
> militants in No. Ireland.  They can assure us that while there are no
> easy answers, something short of all out war can be done.  Should
> England have bombed Belfast when IRA bombs blew up in London?  Of
> course not-- but  before we can deal with  the poisonous roots of
> this attack we must identify the culprits and bring  to justice the
> ones who are not already dead.
> I don't believe that bombing the Afghans into the stone age or
> sacrificing the lives of more Americans in a ground war are the
> answers--the  hate only grows and the circle only comes around again
> in time.
>
> ( You asked who I am  ?  A 79 year old Quaker, who is now seeing the
> 5th war of her lifetime,   had a husband who served more than 4 years
> as a conscientious objector to WW2 in the government's program of
> "work of national importance under civilian direction" (receiving
> $10. a month as pay)  and  2 brothers -in -law in the Air Force and
> Army Engineers ,  who respected Peter's position though they did not
> share it.--- and who prays that we escape the emotional trap of
> indiscriminate vengeance and try to understand WHY these terrible
> things happen, so we can act to  remove the causes, for the sake of
> our children and their children.. )--

Joao Paulo - Salvador,BA,Brazil
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