Fw: [nhne] Part 1 of 2: The Attacks on NY & Washington

[Guest guest]

I am forwarding these on from another group - NHNE (New Heaven New Earth),

they seem pertinent to what we have be discussing and are very informative

and insightful.

 

Ken

 

-

" NHNE " <nhne

" *NHNE Mailing List " <nhne >

Thursday, September 13, 2001 4:58 AM

[nhne] Part 1 of 2: The Attacks on NY & Washington

 

 

>

>

> " News,

> Inspiration,

> & Consumer Protection

> for Spiritual Seekers "

>

> ------------

>

> NHNE: Part 1 of 2: The Attacks on NY & Washington

> Thursday, September 13, 2001

> Current Members: 1569

>

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> To , send a blank email message to:

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> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> EDITOR'S COMMENT:

>

> Like many of you, I've been inundated with email concerning the attacks in

> New York and Washington. I've also spent hours watching CNN and the other

> major television networks. Everyone, it seems, is trying to make some

sense

> of these traumatic events.

>

> Predictably, the mainstream media is primarily focused on the

extraordinary,

> emotionally-charged outer events: the horrendous crashes, the loss of

life,

> eye-witness accounts, rescue efforts, analyzing the events that

precipitated

> the crashes, guarding against future attacks, restoring normalcy and, of

> course, efforts to locate and " punish " those responsible.

>

> But behind the scenes another kind of processing has been going on: many

> people, from a variety of religious traditions and philosophical

> perspectives, have been attempting to identify the deeper, unseen forces

> that produced the outer infernos.

>

> What has America done to engender such hatred and wrath? What valid

> grievances do " terrorists " have and how can their concerns be holisticly

> responded to? How can the endless cycles of violence be stopped -- in the

> outer world where they manifest as airplanes full of " innocent people "

being

> hijacked and crashed into buildings full of other " innocent people " , and

> deep inside ourselves where they first appear as dogmatic ideas,

> self-righteous perspectives, and the universal human tendency to blame

> others for whatever ills have befallen us?

>

> This two-part special report contains news, resources, and heartfelt

> comments from both mainstream and alternative sources, with a special

focus

> on the deeper issues that are often overlooked by the culture at large. My

> hope is that this information will not only give us deeper insight into

the

> painful events that are unfolding in our external world, but, more

> importantly, help us see, understand, and heal the forces, deep inside,

that

> are the true source of our individual and collective pain.

>

> Special thanks to Tom Atlee, John Steiner, Halim Dunsky, Gary Gach, Diana

> Brock Makes, Art Rosenblum, Chester Hatstat, and many others who sent in

> many of the posts that appear in this report.

>

> --- David Sunfellow

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> CONTENTS:

>

> PART 1:

>

> 1. A CHRONOLOGY OF THE EVENTS OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

> 2. EMERGENCY INFORMATION HOTLINES

> 3. ESPECIALLY INSIGHTFUL MAINSTREAM NEWS STORIES

>

> - Attacks Show That Political Courage Is The Only Real Defense

> - Understanding Osama Bin Laden

> - Is The World's Favorite Hate Figure To Blame?

> - For America, A Dose Of Reality

> - What Is The Right Us Response?

>

> 4. A PETITION FOR A SANE RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

> 5. A DIFFERENT KIND OF RESPONSE

> 6. ESPECIALLY INFORMATIVE NEWS SOURCES

>

> PART 2:

>

> 7. OTHER VOICES

>

> - Deepak Chopra

> - Paul Von Ward

> - Michael Moore

> - Gary Zukav

> - Sharif Abdullah

> - Lama Surya Das

> - Marianne Williamson

> - Steve Hassan

> - Doug Carmichael

> - Jennifer Hadley

> - Nicholas Longo

> - 11

> - John Perry Barlow

> - Chris Stout

> - Mark Gerzon

> - Halim Dunsky

> - John Atlee

> - Diana Morley

> - Vicki Robin

> - David La Chapelle

> - Neale Donald Walsch

> - Tom Atlee

> - CarTheo

> - Pennie Stasik O'Grady

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> 1. A CHRONOLOGY OF THE EVENTS OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

> The New York Times

> Tuesday, September 11, 2001

>

> http://www.nytimes.com/

>

> 7:55 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 leaves Boston bound for Los Angeles

>

> 8:00 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark bound for San Francisco

>

> 8:10 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington bound for Los

> Angeles

>

> 8:15 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston bound for Los Angeles

>

> 8:46 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 strikes the north tower of the World

> Trade Center.

>

> 8:55 a.m. According to wire reports, President Bush, who is in Sarasota,

> Fla., is informed of the attacks

>

> 9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 strikes the south tower of the World

> Trade Center.

>

> 9:15 a.m. President Bush makes statement condemning terrorist attack.

>

> 9:25 a.m. FAA shuts down all New York City area airports.

>

> 9:35 a.m. All bridges and tunnels in the Manhattan area closed.

>

> 9:40 a.m. FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports.

>

> 9:55 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 hits Pentagon.

>

> 10:05 a.m. The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

>

> 10:05 a.m. President Bush leaves Sarasota; White House evacuated.

>

> 10:15 a.m. A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

>

> 10:24 a.m. The FAA reports all inbound transatlantic aircraft are being

> diverted to Canada.

>

> 10:25 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, 80 miles

> southeast of Pittsburgh

>

> 10:27 a.m. The World Trade Center's north tower collapses.

>

> 10.46 a.m. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to

Latin

> America to return to the United States.

>

> 10:53 a.m. New York's primary elections scheduled for today are postponed.

>

> 10:55 a.m. Financial Markets closed in New York

>

> 11:02 a.m. New York Mayor Rudy W. Giuliani urges citizens to stay at home

or

> work and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.

>

> 11:15 a.m. U.N. headquarters in New York is fully evacuated

>

> 12:04 p.m. Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of

> the hijacked American Airlines flights, is evacuated.

>

> 12:25 p.m. San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down.

>

> 1:04 p.m. President Bush speaks from Barksdale Airforce Base in Louisiana.

>

> 1:45 p.m. Pentagon announces that warships and aircraft carriers will take

> up positions in the New York and Washington areas.

>

> 8:30 p.m. President Bush addresses nation from White House

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> 2. EMERGENCY INFORMATION HOTLINES

> New York Times

> Wednesday, September 12, 2001

>

> http://www.nytimes.com/?0912na1

>

> Main New York City Numbers:

>

> - NYC Emergency Information: 212-560-2730

> - NYPD Emergency Information: 212-741-4626 or 866-856-4167

>

> Airlines:

>

> - American Airlines: 1-800-245-0999

> - American Airlines Statement: http://www.aa.com

>

> - United Airlines: 1-800-932-8555

> - United Airlines Statement: http://www.ual.com

>

> United also has established its international toll-free

> numbers for friends or family members who want more

> information. Those numbers are:

>

> - The Netherlands: 020504051

> - Germany: 06966985407

> - Italy: 024829813

> - Belgium: 027133646

> - France: 0169199659

>

> Victim Information:

>

> - Red Cross WTC Victim Information: 212-604-7285

> - WTC: AON Employees: 203-863-6380

> - WTC: Morgan Stanley Employees: 888-883-4391

> - WTC: Carr Future: 800-755-7620

> - WTC: Cantor Fitzgerald: 866-326-3188

> - WTC: Pitney Bowes: 800-932-3631

> - Pentagon Employees: 1-877-663-6772

> - Fire Department and EMT Employees: 718-999-2541

> - Police Department Employees: 718-677-8238

>

> New York City Hospitals:

>

> - St. Vincent's Hospital: 212-604-7285

> - Bellevue Hospital Center: 212-562-4141

> - Coler Memorial Hospital: 212-848-6300

> - Goldwater Memorial Hospital: 212-318-8000

> - Gouverneur Hospital D & TC: 212-238-7000

>

> Other New York City Services:

>

> - City Mortuary: 212-562-3051

> - Chief Medical Examiner: 212-447-2030

>

> Grief Counseling:

>

> - Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center: 718-579-5000

> - Metropolitan Hospital Center: 212-423-6262

> - St. Vincent's Health Crisis Center: 212-604-8220

> - Department of Mental Health Services: 212-442-5000

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> 3. ESPECIALLY INSIGHTFUL MAINSTREAM NEWS STORIES:

>

> ATTACKS SHOW THAT POLITICAL COURAGE IS THE ONLY REAL DEFENSE

> By William Pfaff

> International Herald Tribune

> Wednesday, September 12, 2001

>

> [Thanks to Tom Atlee and Mark Robinowitz.]

>

>

http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh & ArticleId

> =32239

>

> The first thing that must be said about the attacks in New York and

> Washington on Tuesday is that they have demonstrated the vulnerability of

> the United States, as of any modern society, to an intelligently prepared

> and determined attack.

>

> Military officials and the uniformed and civilian analytic agencies

attached

> to the U.S. defense establishment have for decades formulated speculative

> scenarios of attack on the nation, but their work has all but invariably

> been dominated by the high-technology mind-set of the Pentagon and by the

> engineering ethos of American society.

>

> The planning has always suffered from the planners' assumption that their

> opponent would attack them in a manner symmetrical to the defenses they

> already had or that they planned to have.

>

> Thus they concentrated speculation and planning on the danger of attack

with

> mass-destruction weapons, probably using more or less high-technology

> methods. The discussion has almost entirely concerned missile attacks,

rogue

> nuclear weapons and chemical and biological agents. Rogue commercial

> aircraft were not interesting to defense planners.

>

> The real lesson, which was not learned, was provided nearly 60 years ago,

> shortly before the end of World War II, when an American medium bomber,

lost

> in the fog, crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City --

then

> the country's highest building.

>

> The lesson was that exotic methods and high technology are not necessary

to

> produce devastating results. On Tuesday the lesson was validated. You

merely

> need to crash three old-fashioned airplanes into vulnerable targets to

> produce mass panic in the United States, shutdown of most of the

government

> and evacuation of the centers of Washington, New York and other major

> cities.

>

> The second lesson was that the psychological and political consequences of

> such an event are not primarily measured by the scale of the casualties

but

> by the unexpectedness and drama of the attack. So long as the attack

remains

> anonymous, the fear and panic increase.

>

> The effect sought is demonstration of the vulnerability of those who are

> targeted -- and the continuing vulnerability of those who might be

targeted

> the next time. It is to demonstrate that high-technology defenses, of the

> kind in which the United States takes pride, can easily be circumvented,

> using simple methods. It is to demonstrate that there is no real defense

> against an anonymous attack that makes use of the ordinary functioning of

> civilian society.

>

> Such an attack is possible so long as civil airplanes fly, trains run,

power

> systems and utilities function, people go to work and business and markets

> continue. Each can be subverted, or intervened in, or exploited in ways

that

> damage their users and the larger society.

>

> Even a totalitarian security state cannot deal with this -- even if it

were

> to suppress basic civil liberties. It is extremely important to understand

> this, since there will be two natural reactions to what has happened, both

> of them essentially futile.

>

> First there will be continuing calls for revenge against whomever is

> responsible, presuming that the author is eventually identified.

>

> The practical uselessness of revenge has repeatedly been demonstrated, and

> continues to be demonstrated in the Middle East, since those who employ

> terrorism are not functioning on a pragmatic scale of reward and

punishment.

> As the Israelis find, making martyrs of your enemies invites further

> martyrdoms.

>

> The second reaction will be that the United States needs even more

elaborate

> defenses than now exist. Yet the Pentagon, CIA, NSA and the rest of the

> American apparatus of national security proved incapable of preventing the

> attacks Tuesday. They are incapable of preventing their repetition in some

> other version.

>

> There are no technological defenses, as such, against this sort of thing.

> Surely, if nothing else comes out of the attacks Tuesday, they ought to

have

> demonstrated to Americans the irrelevance of national missile defense.

>

> There are ordinary security measures that can be taken or improved, but

the

> nature of attacks mounted from within the regular functions of society,

> means that no comprehensive or conclusive defense exists. The entire

history

> of terrorism in both 19th and 20th centuries has demonstrated that.

>

> The final and most profound lesson of these events is one that it will be

> hardest for government to accept -- this government in particular. It is

> that the only real defense against external attack is serious, continuing

> and courageous effort to find political solutions for national and

> ideological conflicts that involve the United States.

>

> The immediate conclusion nearly everyone has drawn about the origin of

these

> attacks is that they come out of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. It is

> reasonable to think that this is so, although there is as yet no proof.

>

> For more than 30 years the United States has refused to make a genuinely

> impartial effort to find a resolution to that conflict. It has involved

> itself in the Middle East in a thousand ways, but has never accepted a

> responsibility for dealing impartially with the two sides -- locked in

their

> shared agony and their mutual tragedy.

>

> If current speculation about these bombings proves to be true, the United

> States has now been awarded its share in that Middle Eastern tragedy.

>

> ------------

>

> UNDERSTANDING OSAMA BIN LADEN

> By William O. Beeman

> Pacific News Service/Alternet

> September 12, 2001

>

> http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11487

>

> The United States risks a severe miscalculation in dealing with the

> destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon on

> Tuesday.

>

> This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an " act of

> war. " It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize.

>

> The root cause is not terrorist activity, as has been widely stated. It is

> the relationship between the United States and the Islamic world. Until

this

> central cancerous problem is treated, Americans will never be free from

> fear.

>

> Merely locating and hunting down a single " guilty party " in this case will

> not stop future violence: such an action will not destroy the organization

> of terrorist cells already established throughout the world. Of greater

> importance, it will do nothing to alleviate the residual enmity against

> America.

>

> The perpetrators of the original attack on the World Trade Center in 1993

> were caught and convicted. This did not stop the attack on Tuesday.

>

> The chief suspect is the Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden, or his surrogates.

> He has been mischaracterized as an anti-American terrorist. He should

rather

> be thought of as someone who would do anything to protect Islam.

>

> Bin Laden began his career fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan

in

> 1979, when he was 22 years old. He has not only resisted the Soviets, but

> also the Serbians in Yugoslavia. His anger was directed against the United

> States primarily because of the U.S. presence in the Gulf region, more

> particularly in Saudi Arabia itself -- the site of the most sacred Islamic

> religious sites.

>

> According to bin Laden, during the Gulf War America co-opted the rulers of

> Saudi Arabia to establish a military presence in order to kill Muslims in

> Iraq. In a religious decree issued in 1998, he gave religious legitimacy

to

> attacks on Americans in order to stop the United States from " occupying

the

> lands of Islam in the holiest of places. " His decree also extends to

> Jerusalem, home of the sacred Muslim site the al-Aqsa Mosque.

>

> Bin Laden will not cease his opposition until the United States leaves the

> region. Paradoxically, his strategy for convincing the United States to do

> so seems drawn from the American foreign policy playbook. When the United

> States disapproves of the behavior of another nation, it " turns up the

heat "

> on that nation through embargoes, economic sanctions or withdrawal of

> diplomatic representation. In the case of Iraq following the Gulf War,

> America employed military action, resulting in the loss of civilian life.

>

> The State Department has theorized that if the people of a rogue nation

> experience enough suffering, they will overthrow their rulers, or compel

> them to adopt more sensible behavior.

>

> The terrorist actions in New York and Washington are a clear and ironic

> implementation of this strategy against the United States.

>

> Bin Laden takes no credit for actions emanating from his training camps in

> Afghanistan. A true ideologue, he believes that his mission is sacred, and

> he wants only to see clear results. For this reason, the structure of his

> organization is essentially tribal, or cellular, in modern political

terms.

> His followers are as fervent and intense in their belief as he is. They

> carry out their actions because they believe in the rightness of their

> cause, not because of bin Laden's orders or approval. Groups are trained

in

> Afghanistan, and then establish their own centers in places as far-flung

as

> Canada, Africa and Europe. Each cell is technologically sophisticated, and

> may have a different set of motivations for attacking the United States.

>

> Palestinian members of his group see Americans as supporters of Israel in

> the current conflict between the two nations. In the Palestinian view,

Ariel

> Sharon's ascendancy to leadership of Israel has triggered a new era, with

> U.S. government officials failing to pressure the Israeli government to

end

> violence against Palestinians. Palestinian cell members will not cease

their

> opposition until the United States changes its relationship with the

Israeli

> state.

>

> Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of the world has an

> absolute right to self-determination that is as defensible as our own. A

> despicable act of terror such as that committed in New York and Washington

> is a measure of the revulsion that others feel at U.S. actions that

> seemingly limit those rights. If we perpetuate a cycle of hate and

revenge,

> this conflict will escalate into a war that our great-grandchildren will

be

> fighting.

>

> ------------

>

> IS THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE HATE FIGURE TO BLAME?

> Osama bin Laden

> By Robert Fisk

> 12 September 2001

>

> [Thanks to Art B. Rosenblum.]

>

> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=93624

>

> I can imagine how Osama bin Laden received the news of the atrocities in

the

> United States. In all, I must have spent five hours listening to him in

> Sudan and then in the Afghan mountains, as he described the inevitable

> collapse of the US, just as he and his comrades in the Afghan war helped

to

> destroy the Red Army.

>

> He will have watched satellite television, he will have sat in the corner

of

> his room, brushing his teeth as he always did, with a mishwak stick,

> thinking for up to a minute before speaking. He once told me with pride

how

> his men had attacked the Americans in Somalia. He acknowledged that he

> personally knew two of the Saudis executed for bombing an American

military

> base in Riyadh. Could he be behind the slaughter in America?

>

> If Mr bin Laden was really guilty of all the things for which he has been

> blamed, he would need an army of 10,000. And there is something deeply

> disturbing about the world's habit of turning to the latest hate figure

> whenever blood is shed. But when events of this momentous scale take

place,

> there is a new legitimacy in casting one's eyes at those who have

constantly

> threatened America.

>

> Mr bin Laden had a kind of religious experience during the Afghan war. A

> Russian shell had fallen at his feet and, in the seconds as he waited for

it

> to explode, he said he had a sudden feeling of calmness. The shell never

> exploded.

>

> The US must leave the Gulf, he would say every 10 minutes. America must

stop

> all sanctions against the Iraqi people. America must stop using Israel to

> oppress Palestinians. He was not fighting an anti-colonial war, but a

> religious one. His supporters would gather round him with the awe of men

> listening to a messiah. And the words they listened to were fearful in

their

> implications. American civilians would no more be spared than military

> targets. Yet I also remember one night when Mr bin Laden saw a pile of

> newspapers in my bag and seized them. By a sputtering oil lamp, he read

> them, clearly unaware of the world around him. Was this really a man who

> could damage America?

>

> If the shadow of the Middle East falls over yesterday's destruction, then

> who else could produce such meticulously timed assaults? The rag-tag

> Palestinian groups that used to favour hijacking are unlikely to be able

to

> produce a single suicide bomber. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have neither the

> capability nor the money that this assault needed. Perhaps the groups that

> moved close to the Lebanese Hizbollah in the 1980s, before the

organisation

> became solely a resistance movement. The bombing of the US Marines in 1983

> needed precision, timing and infinite planning. But Iran, which supported

> these groups, is more involved in its internal struggles. Iraq lies

broken,

> its agents more intent on torturing their own people than striking at the

> the US.

>

> So the mountains of Afghanistan will be photographed from satellite and

> high-altitude aircraft in the coming days, Mr bin Laden's old training

camps

> highlighted on the overhead projectors in the Pentagon. But to what end?

For

> if this is a war it cannot be fought like other wars. Indeed, can it be

> fought at all without some costly military adventure overseas? Or is that

> what Mr bin Laden seeks above all else?

>

> ------------

>

> FOR AMERICA, A DOSE OF REALITY

> By Derrick Z. Jackson

> The Boston Globe

> 9/12/2001

>

> [Thanks to Tom Atlee.]

>

>

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/255/oped/For_America_a_dose_of_reality+.sh

> tml

>

> The United States is wailing and wrenching, caught in its most bewildering

> moment of war. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of civilians, the most ever

> killed on our shores, died within the space of a few hours by a violent

act.

> But the enemy carried no Union Jack, no Stars and Bars, no Iron Cross, no

> rising sun, no swastika. It involved no visible army at all.

>

> It is the most bewildering moment because we have the world's mightiest

> army, yet the Pentagon was bombed. It is bewildering because America is

the

> world's richest nation, yet its greatest twin symbols of capitalism no

> longer stand. It is bewildering because the president says terrorism will

> not stand, yet he knows not where the enemy stands.

>

> It is bewildering because we have fantasized, through our shelves of

> disaster movies, from ''King Kong'' to ''Independence Day,'' that America

> could be attacked by everything from gorillas to aliens, but most of us

> would always be saved. ''Independence Day'' has now happened for real, and

> we are bewildered because there are no spaceships for Will Smith to shoot

> at. No spaceships are needed when you can simply fly a jetliner.

>

> It is bewildering because in a nation so numb to celluloid violence, gun

> violence, and even genocide abroad, no one can now be detached from the

> effects of violence. Fifty thousand people work in the World Trade Center.

> Hundreds more people were in the air when four passenger planes were

> deliberately crashed. Well within the six degrees of separation, all of us

> were somehow connected to someone who was in there or up there and prayed

> that they came out or came down alive.

>

> Nearly all of us fly, and there could not be a person in this nation who

did

> not cringe over replays of one of the planes exploding into the World

Trade

> Center. In this modern world, airplanes simultaneously symbolize our faith

> in technology and the terror of helplessness. We cringe because an unseen

> roll of the dice could have put any one of us on board those airplanes.

Here

> in Boston, it is sickening to think that the hijackers of the two flights

> from Logan may have slept comfortably in our midst the night before.

>

> America now knows, in the most personal way, to the depths of its civilian

> vulnerability, that it is part of the world. Obviously, whoever did this

> must be found and put away forever. That only partially solves the

problem.

> If one recalls, America was originally reluctant to enter what became

World

> War II. Pearl Harbor changed all that. Now America has been forced into

the

> world again, at a probable loss of life worse than Pearl Harbor. On Dec.

7,

> 1941, 2,400 soldiers and 49 civilians were killed.

>

> The question is, what world are we joining? The smoke has not cleared, and

> our more hawkish leaders are whipping up the winds of revenge. A senator

was

> on CNN railing about the ''bastards.'' Security experts were bellowing

about

> holding fully responsible any nation that has ever given comfort to Osama

> bin Laden, the most talked about suspect.

>

> Since most states in this nation employ the death penalty, the term

''fully

> responsible'' is a perilous term. In the Gulf War, the United States

killed

> thousands of Iraqi civilians in ''collateral damage.'' If we did that

merely

> over oil, does that mean we should bomb women and children in, say,

> Afghanistan?

>

> Revenge will be an understandable emotion in the coming days, as the body

> count and the saber-rattling mount. But it is also eerie that, suddenly,

we

> want help on terrorism at the very time when we have been isolating

> ourselves from the world stage, from the environment to racism to missile

> defense. Missile defense would not have prevented the worst peacetime act

> within the lower 48 states.

>

> Whoever attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and our sense of

> daily trust and freedom, must be found. But America must find itself, too.

> The targets clearly represented America's global power, a power that is

not

> innocent of arrogance, either militarily or economically. With all the

> condolence that can be offered, it is incongruent to think that the

world's

> leading exporter of the tools of death and destruction would not someday

be

> visited with an evil in return.

>

> Yesterday America learned that its soul could be momentarily leveled,

> humbled, and reduced to rubble. How we pick ourselves up will determine

how

> long this war will go on. It will depend on how humbly we handle our

power,

> which by definition makes us a target. What we know more clearly than ever

> is that no matter how much we withdraw, the most terrible evils can still

> come to us.

>

> ------------

>

> WHAT IS THE RIGHT U.S. RESPONSE?

> By Brad Knickerbocker

> The Christian Science Monitor

> 9/13/01

>

> [Thanks to Tom Atlee.]

>

> http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2001/0913/p1s1-usju.html

>

> EXCERPT:

>

> To some experts, the main response needs to be more diplomatic than

> military.

>

> " The most constructive response for the president and government would be

to

> become much more engaged in the Middle East, " says Emilio Viano, a

terrorism

> expert at American University in Washington. " The region has been

> neglected, " he adds, " and to the extent we have been involved, it has been

> increasingly interpreted as acting on the side of Israel. "

>

> " There is tremendous rage among Palestinians, and that has fueled the

fires

> of fundamentalism, " explains Professor Viano. " It would be more

constructive

> to go to the root of all of this, and that is the Israeli-Palestinian

> conflict. "

>

> Going to the root of a problem that has simmered -- and often flared --

for

> decades and generations is difficult under far simpler circumstances than

> American now finds itself confronting.

>

> And a military response, whether it is a quick retaliation or a protracted

> response meant to permanently change the geopolitical landscape,

nonetheless

> brings with it the questions of balancing a nation's fundamental values.

>

> " We have to be true to our principles, take into account the fact that

> people will be vulnerable and without offense and themselves at risk, "

says

> former CIA and FBI director William Webster. " We should avoid doing to

them

> what they did to us, which is to take innocent lives. "

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> 4. A PETITION FOR A SANE RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

>

> [Thanks to Tom Atlee.]

>

> TO SIGN:

> http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/224622495

>

> In the aftermath of the ruthless attack on the World Trade Center and

> Pentagon, we implore the leaders of the United States to ensure that

justice

> be served by protecting the innocent citizens of all nations.

>

> We beg that the President maintain the civil liberties of all U.S.

> residents, protect the human rights of all people at home and abroad, and

> guarantee that this attempted attack on the principles and freedoms of the

> United States will not succeed.

>

> We plead for a thorough investigation of the terrorist events before any

> retaliation.

>

> We call for PEACE and JUSTICE, not revenge.

>

> In Solidarity,

> The Undersigned

>

> NOTE: The system centralizes signature collection to provide consolidated,

> useful reports for petition authors and targets.

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> 5. A DIFFERENT KIND OF RESPONSE

> By Peggy Holman

>

> [Thanks to Tom Atlee.]

>

> So much of our public discourse today plays out through the media and

their

> broadcasting of politicians. I have been sitting with the question of

what

> happens from here? It occurs to me that rather than watching with great

> frustration as the politicians and media foment discord and speak of

> punishing those at fault, it is time to let them know that there are

voices

> who wish to see a different kind of response. I have gathered e-mail

> addresses for people I thought important to reach. Some are here because

> they are in positions of power and it seems important that they hear

another

> perspective. I chose others because they seem to be searching for other

> alternatives and are respected. You may have others you think worth

> contacting.

>

> So, I ask, as we talk to each other to make some sense out of this, please

> consider also contacting people in the public eye to let them know we

> wish to see a different kind of response. The note I am sending follows

the

> addresses I've located.

>

> Peggy

>

> ABC News:

> http://abcnews.go.com/service/help/abccontact.html

> (I'm contacting Ted Koppel)

>

> ABC World news tonight with Peter Jennings:

> http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/WorldNewsTonight/WNT_newemail_form.html

>

> CBS News with Dan Rather:

> <evening

>

> NBC News with Tom Brokaw:

> <Nightly

>

> Lots of NBC contact addresses:

> http://www.msnbc.com/news/435157.asp#nbc

>

> CNN News:

> http://www.cnn.com/CNN/askcnn/

>

> Oprah Winfrey:

> http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_reach_fromu.html

>

> President George W. Bush:

> <president

>

> Vice President Dick Cheney:

> <vice.president

>

> Senators:

> http://www.senate.gov/

>

> House of Representatives:

> http://www.house.gov/writerep/

>

> Working Assets Long Distance:

> http://www.workingforchange.com/help/contact_topic.cfm

>

>

> MY MESSAGE

>

> The World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks create an enormous opportunity

> for unity. These unspeakable acts dramatically draw most of us together in

> our shock and disbelief. What about those who celebrate it? Who are they?

> What is it that moves them to joy as the rest of us are moved to tears?

>

> Their stories are a vital part of what happens next. As a person with

great

> influence and power, I implore you to tell us their stories. Why do I want

> to know? Because it is by understanding their humanity that the greatest

> chance for healing all of us occurs.

>

> We can respond, as we always do, with swift, and just military vengeance.

> We have centuries of experience of the results of this course. It simply

> breeds more of the same.

>

> At this time when we are all grieving for the people directly affected and

> those close to them, let us respond differently. Help us to understand the

> anger that turns such atrocity into valid action so that we can face the

> enemy and see their humanity in ourselves.

>

> Rather than deepen the divide, help us bridge it.

>

> Sincerely,

> Peggy Holman

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> 6. ESPECIALLY INFORMATIVE NEWS SOURCES:

>

> The Drudge Report:

> http://www.drudgereport.com/

>

> CNN:

> http://www.cnn.com/

>

> BBC:

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/default.stm

>

> AlterNet Headlines:

> http://www.alternet.org

>

> Dave Winer's Scripting News:

> http://www.scripting.com/

>

> Lyco's News Photos of New York & Washington Disasters:

> http://news.lycos.com/news/photogallery.asp?section=WorldPhotos

>

> New York Daily News Online Photos:

> http://nydailynews.com/manual/news/Attack/gallery1.asp

>

> ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

>

> NHNE MISSION STATEMENT, CREDITS & CONTACT INFORMATION

>

> The mission of NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) is to answer humankind's oldest,

> most perplexing questions: Who are we? Where are we from? What is the

origin

> and purpose of life? Instead of relying on ancient or contemporary wisdom,

> or the knowledge of isolated experts, we are building a global network of

> seekers from all walks of life, from all parts of the world, lay people

and

> professionals alike, that can pool talents, experience, and resources to

> unravel life's great mysteries.

>

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change

> and are seeking to create a global community of like-minded people that

can

> safely pass through whatever changes may come our way and help give birth

to

> a new way of life on our planet.

>

> ------------

>

> David Sunfellow, Founder & Publisher

> NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)

> a 501©3 non-profit organization

> P.O. Box 2242

> Sedona, AZ USA 86339

>

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>

[Guest guest]

Dear Ken,

 

Thanks very much.

 

Rob

 

-

" Wieland " <wieland7

<Realization >

Thursday, September 13, 2001 10:14 PM

Fw: [nhne] Part 1 of 2: The Attacks on NY & Washington

 

 

> I am forwarding these on from another group - NHNE (New Heaven New Earth),

> they seem pertinent to what we have be discussing and are very informative

> and insightful.

>

> Ken

[Guest guest]

At 9/14/2001-05:14 AM Wieland wrote:

><Realization >

> Fw: [nhne] Part 1 of 2: The Attacks on NY & Washington

>

>I am forwarding these on from another group - NHNE (New Heaven New Earth),

>they seem pertinent to what we have be discussing and are very informative

>and insightful.

>

>Ken

 

Thank you for the articles Ken.

I agree with you they are very insightful and informative.

______________________

With Love,

Cyber Dervish

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