By Karen MacNutt,
Contributing Editor

On a Tuesday morning in September our worldview suddenly shifted. While the counter girl was pouring my coffee, I watched an airplane fly directly into the New York World Trade Center and explode in a ball of fire.

It was more like an ad for a new action movie than live TV news coverage. There was little doubt as to the fate of those at the tops of the buildings. Thousands of people died while I waited for coffee.

The attacks began in Boston, Newark and Virginia and ended in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. It rained in each of those cities on our day of national remembrance. It was as if God was crying with us.

Technically speaking, this incredibly violent act by terrorists, was not an act of war. It was a simple, but well planned, diabolical operation by individuals. No super weapons were used. Those who executed the plan were willing to die for what they thought was a noble cause. They used small utility razors such as those sold to open packages or letters. They were certain that American aircrews and passengers would not fight back. Their puny weapons would have been no match for a plane filled with angry and aggressive people. In the one aircraft in which passengers resisted, the terrorists lost.

Private individuals may not declare war or have war declared against them. Individuals who kill others, even in large numbers, are mass murderers. They are not nations.

In the case of the World Trade Center, it now appears that the objective of those who planned and ordered the attack was not the Glory of God as their naive followers were told. It was to make a lot of money for a few insiders. Like some super villain in a cartoon, the planners of the attack duped their followers into committing murder and suicide. Murder and suicide are against the commandments of God. While the rhetoric of fanaticism talked about attacking wicked Americans, the leadership of the movement had placed their stock orders so that they could make a fortune off of the death of innocent people.

Americans should look at the attack on the World Trade Center as the work of an organized crime syndicate. We have met and defeated organized crime before.

We do not need new laws to define "terrorism." What occurred was murder. The law is clear about murder. Anyone who aids and abets a murderer before the act by knowingly providing financial support, advice, materials or assistance in any way, is guilty of being an accessory before the fact. He or she is equally guilty with the person who actually carries out the deed. Anyone who harbors, assists in escaping arrest, or otherwise knowingly gives aid to a person who is either the main actor or an accessory before the fact to a crime with the intent of helping the main actor or accessory before the fact to escape from or avoid arrest, is an accessory after the fact. He or she is equally guilty with the main actor.

Under the law, not only are the terrorists who crashed the planes guilty of murder, but so too are those who knowingly helped them or who now knowingly harbor them. Under our racketeering laws, their assets can be seized.

If two or more people combine with the intent to accomplish some crime by concerted action, and they engage in some act in furtherance of the endeavor, they are guilty of conspiracy. All members of the conspiracy can be punished equally with those who actually commit the unlawful act. One who sits at a table and discusses with someone else how to commit a criminal act with the intent it be committed, or one who knowingly loans his property to be used to further an unlawful act can be held accountable under the laws of conspiracy. They can be punished equally with the person who actually commits the wrongful act.

Under the felony murder rule, if someone is killed during the commission of a crime which is a felony (robbery, murder, arson etc.), then all persons who were involved in committing or aiding the crime are guilty of murder. The driver of the getaway car is equally guilty with the man who pulls the trigger. This is because the law says the driver of the car enabled the killing to take place by participating in the crime.

Under the laws of the United States, the penalty for murder is death. Not much else is needed in the way of punishment. In addition to the criminal prosecution brought by the government, anyone who is hurt by the crime may bring a lawsuit for civil damages against those responsible for the crime. If the damages from the crime are compensated for by insurance, then the insurance company takes over the right to sue for damages. American citizens and businesses can sue those responsible for terrorist acts and obtain restitution from the property of those who commit terrorist acts or those who aid and abet terrorists.

As we proceed in out fight against terrorism, we must make it clear to the world that we seek justice. We must not act as a lynch mob. We must not crawl into the gutter with our adversaries or adopt their methods. If history teaches anything, it teaches that good is never achieved through a wrongful act. We should act in accordance with the law and bring to JUSTICE those responsible, both under the penalties of criminal law and under the laws of restitution under the civil law. We do so not as an act of violence, but as an obligation to establish and uphold the law. Whether you say it is in accordance with the laws of the United States or the laws of the Bible or Koran, murder for profit is evil.

So, what are we going to do?

When President Bush asked Americans to watch for terrorists, many people said, "OK but how?" Terrorism is not new to the United States. Early in the 20th century there was a rash of violence by anarchists, the Ku Klux Klan and other fringe groups. Terrorists have a political agenda but they lack faith that their arguments would be accepted in an open forum of ideas.

As long as they embrace violence, they will lose.

Terrorism is not a random act of violence. It is planned. Because it is planned, it can be discovered and defeated. Terrorists depend upon our having predictable patterns of behavior. They depend upon being able to move about unchallenged. They use our carelessness about security against us. They are looking for publicity. They want to be martyrs. They must show the world that they are right and their enemies are evil. They do not see themselves as doing evil, rather, like all great atrocities, they commit their acts in supposed furtherance of a just cause.

Our first obligation is not to panic. The terrorist wants us to panic. The purpose of terrorism is to disrupt the lives of those targeted. Terrorists want to show people that the government cannot protect them. They want to create fear. They want the government to take such harsh and repressive measures against the people that the people will stop supporting the government.

We must show our enemies they cannot succeed in destroying who we are. We must the resist the temptation of passing repressive laws which would transform our society into a police state. Once the authority to randomly invade privacy is established, it will be impossible to control. We must continue to respect individual rights including the right to privacy, to free speech, to free association, to travel, to own weapons for self defense, to trial by jury, and the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. We can, within our current structure of law, bring those responsible for the mass murder to justice. We can self destruct if we are not careful by putting into place laws which, although passed with good intent, can be used to intimidate honest people in their Constitutional right to criticize those in office and change our government through the electoral process.

Although there are most likely terrorists amongst us, their number is probably smaller than those people who are members of street gangs in New York City. We have to be vigilant but we must not be afraid. We must take a practical view. If every time some official or news commentator thinks up some possible plot for terrorists, we treat that flight of imagination as gospel, we will waste all of our time on useless pursuits and pass extremely repressive laws.

We must not stop being who we are. The stock market, our economy, our business is driven by consumption and consumer confidence. If we pull into a bunker mentality, we will destroy our own economy. It is your patriotic duty to go on vacation, to go to the movies, to continue to spend responsibly according to your customary spending habits. Show the terrorists they can not win.

Get on an airplane and fly anywhere. Get yourself a T-shirt for flying. It might quote Ethan Allen, "Live Free or Die." It might show John Paul Jones's rattlesnake, "Don't Tread On Me," flag. It might have a more modern slogan like, "Remember the Pennsylvania Solution." Perhaps it might have a more colorful sentiment.

We must resist striking out blindly against ethnic groups or religions. Many Americans know by personal experience or by family tradition the unfairness of prejudice and guilt by association. Our strongest allies, our best defenders will be those loyal Americans who share the ethnicity of the murders. It will be good people who are Americans of Middle East descent who will most easily recognize those within their own communities whose actions sound alarm bells.

Religious leaders, especially those in the Moslem world, must continue to condemn terrorism. They must make it clear to the gullible followers of evil, that any thought that God will reward them for their acts of mass destruction is a delusion. Indeed, I think in a corner of all our prayers for those who were killed or injured at the World Trade Center, is a small request that those responsible burn in hell.

Americans know about crime. We have been labeled by our detractors as one of the world's most violent societies. Through our experience, we know how to deal with criminals. We learned that law enforcement is a whole community effort. When the police separate themselves from the community, cases of police brutality grow and so does crime. When the police and the people work together for community security, crime goes down. Those of us in major cities know how effective crime watches are. Local people know when someone is acting suspiciously within their communities. They know who the drug dealers are. They know who the members of organized crime are. Those in government must accept the fact that public security is a whole community project. They must be willing to accept the help of the American people and trust that the overwhelming majority of people will work for safe communities.

Take security seriously. We have all seen buildings with security doors propped open for some employee's convenience. Keep those doors closed and locked. Do not bypass, disable or frustrate security systems. Do not discuss with others security systems you are knowledgeable about. A security system divulged is a security system compromised. Report all breaches of security.

Report all attempts to gain information about security systems or to bypass security systems to those responsible for the system.
Do not let people into your building if you do not know them or if they do not have proper identification or authorization. Do not give other people your password or security code. Do not leave your ID card with other people. Report immediately lost or stolen identity cards. Smart terrorists will appear to be nice people to get you to help them.

Do not give people information about where you work or about government buildings or public safety employees or any thing that might be a target for terrorists if the person asking does not have a reasonable need to know the information. Do not give out personal information on the telephone or Internet. The Internet and cell phones and cordless phones are easily intercepted. Do not discuss things on these devices that might compromise security. Do not do these things yourself and do not let your friends or co-workers do these things.

Do not park vehicles in fire lanes or against buildings if the same is not allowed. If you see a strange car parked next to a building in an area it does not belong in, call whoever is in charge and have the car towed.
Security is everyone's business. Be alert to what is going on around you. If you see someone hanging about where they do not belong, question them or call security. Even if they appear to be workmen but something does not seem right to you, check it out.

Ask to see their identification. Call their company to make sure they are who they say they are. If you can not locate the person who called for the workmen, do not assume they are OK. Even people who work on public streets must be listed with the city or town. If they give you a lame excuse about why they are there, call security. Be nosey. We know our co-workers. We know the types of people who are our customers. We know the deliverymen who work our areas. We know what is normal for the people we deal with.

When you see someone who is doing something that is not normal, question it. It may be innocent. It may not be. Terrorists are looking for a place where no one will question what is going on until it is too late. Many of us have been part of crime watches. It is the same idea.

Question packages or brief cases or suit cases that are abandoned or appear to be left unattended. Do not be afraid to yell out, "Who left this here?" If no one knows, report it. Such things could contain explosives or someone's lunch. Do not open or move such things yourself. They could be rigged to explode. On the other side of the coin, do not leave such things around to give others cause for alarm.

A lot of people fear chemical or biological weapons. Such weapons are much more difficult to use by terrorists than conventional weapons. Arson and explosives are the traditional weapons of terrorists. The threat of biological weapons has cause fear well beyond its likely effectiveness. Stockpiling antibiotics is not an answer. The improper use of antibiotics can lead to a lessening of their effectiveness.

Do not accept or hold packages for people you do not know. If you work in a mail room, you know what the mail that comes to your business looks like. Letters or packages without a return address or that are unsolicited or do not look like normal junk mail or that have unusual bulk or feel to them, especially if not addressed in a normal commercial manner, could contain a letter bomb or biological agent. Be alert to things that do not look or feel right.

Do not engage in pranks and report others who do. Pranks use up resources and are as effective as real terrorist attacks when it comes to spreading fear or costing the government money. Do not spread rumors. Keep in mind that terrorists want to spread terror. If you spread a false rumor that causes fear, you just helped the terrorists.

Watch out for your neighbor. If you are a public official or a public safety worker who might be personally targeted because of your job, there are things you can do to increase your own safety.

Check your car before you get in. Check under your car as well as the outside for wires or objects that do not belong. Do not be consistent in your habits. Leave from or for work at different times. Take different routes. Vary the times and places you go out for exercise or recreation. Be unpredictable.

There is a lot we can all do to make our community and our place of employment safer. They are common sense things. Where terrorists have been successful, they have had the support of a significant part of the public. That is not so in the US. In the United States, the government is the extension of the whole people. As long as those who administer government remember this, then terrorists, who claim the right to kill every man, woman, and child they see, will have as mortal foes every man, woman, and child in the United States. If we are all to be considered soldiers by the terrorists, then we must remember that it is the duty of every soldier to fight back.

It has been said that all that is needed for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.

There are people in the United States who will say you should not defend yourself if attacked.

There are those who think that the world would be safer if everyone was disarmed and cowered in the face of evil. The World Trade Center attack should be a lesson as to why that philosophy is wrong. Being disarmed did not help the hijacked passengers. Being peaceful did not protect those who worked at the World Trade Center. Making sure that no one on the flights, including the air crew, had guns, did not stop the murders. The weapons of mass destruction were knifes so small that a broken piece of glass or plastic would have been just as effective. What enabled those insignificant blades to cause so much havoc was a policy of non-resistance. When evil is resisted by good people, as it was in the aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania, evil will lose.
All Americans must be prepared to resist evil.

When the memorial service ended in Washington, the news commentators noted that the sky, which had been dark when the President entered the church, had cleared to a beautiful blue. In Boston, where the attacks began, the dark, and threatening clouds lingered until just before dusk. The breaking clouds burned bright orange in a dramatic sunset. In the midst of those clouds, was a magnificent rainbow. We will prevail.

Genesis, 9:6 et seq.