Quicklinks: · Power Macs · 'Books · Early Macs · Week's Best Deals · Best Buys · OS Downloads

How Should the U.S. Respond?

- 2001.09.14

I was in the subway - here in Montreal - and a woman from the Middle East was wearing a veil. This piece of clothing indicated her Muslim faith, and the other passengers saw that she was of Islamic origin. They were staring, nay, glaring at her. Do I really need to draw you a picture? You know what this scene means. I heard about a similar story a few hours before seeing this.

The attacks on the United States have shaken the world, and many have already concluded that the perpetrators were Islamic. Never mind justice and the investigation requirements that democracies stand for, people want a guilty party and draw their own conclusions. For that reason, they are ready to assault or persecute a local ethnic community that may not endorse the acts that have been committed.

What should we think about the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington? Where should we start?

The first and most crucial aspect of the issue is to remember not to jump to conclusions. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing has demonstrated the importance of carrying out an investigation before singling out a suspect. Unfortunately, many people's call for war and desire for simple solutions tarnish reasonable approaches.

The simple solution mentality is our common enemy. It leads many U.S. citizens to want war against an unidentified adversary; it pushes for what terrorists actually want! Fanatics want a holy war - bloodshed, large scale massacres, and damage. They are ready to die for the "cause," killing thousands of innocent civilians on their way to hell. Reacting violently without concluding a complete investigation is just what they want the United States to do. They want the U.S. to fight blindly instead of targeting terrorists. Will the U.S. swallow the bait?

Terrorism is a threat; it should be stopped. It is everybody's fight, not just the United States' fight. When terrorists attack the United States, they attack us, Canadians. They attacked Germany, England, France, Russia, NATO, and everything that stands for democracy and freedom. By attacking the most powerful nation in the world, they attacked the success and achievement that Western democracy's level of civilization has brought to our world.

Terrorism is a strong, resourceful enemy. Look at the New York and Washington attacks. These people knew what they were doing. They were skilled pilots who knew where to aim to knock the Twin Towers down and orchestrate a crash into the Pentagon. They picked their flights carefully. East coast to west coast flights carry more fuel than shorter flights, therefore they cause bigger explosions when hijacked planes hit targets. Moreover, these people fooled all the layers of security and intelligence that protect a country that is fully aware of its "popularity" with terrorists.

If the U.S. could not fully prevent terrorism from hitting them, can you presume that the countries where terrorists reside can stop them? Not necessarily. Of course, any country that voluntarily shelters and trains terrorists should be the target of international, economical, and perhaps military measures. On the other hand, there are states that do not have the ability to rid themselves of terrorism. Not everybody has the resources and peaceful environment that we have in the West. Before the United States reacts, they have to take into account the fact that some countries do not approve of terrorist actions but do not have the resources to stop these people.

I believe that, in this issue, the people who have perpetrated this attack must be punished. But terrorism itself is what should be fought against.

To further explain my viewpoint, say that the United States' investigation finds elements of evidence proving that terrorists entered the U.S. through the Canadian border after the terrorists spent a few weeks in Canada to organize their plot. Should Canada be punished as a criminal state? Of course not; we fight against terrorism! In this spirit, retaliation against a country should be considered only if the country in question has done something to help terrorists.

What do I suggest?

1. Find who did this and respond appropriately to punish them while making sure that evidence is solid before acting. You do not want to add innocent victims to the body count; the list is already too long.
2. Strengthen the United States' security measures against terrorism. This includes intelligence resources. No plan is good enough to stop everything, but vigilance is obligatory. Questions such as "what do pilots get to defend themselves against hijackers?" deserve an answer. Had the planes not been hijacked, would thousands of innocents be dead or injured today?
3. Launch a counterattack against terrorism. Not only in the light of recent events, but also as the perpetual battle against an affliction that all of us have to deal with.
4. Help the countries that do not have enough governmental power to get rid of terrorism by themselves, and ask for help from abroad. Countries such as Canada, England, Germany, France and others will fully support the United States in their efforts against terrorism. It is our fight, too.

Every U.S. citizen should remember this message from us outsiders: You have our support. I walked in downtown Montreal yesterday, and the recent attacks were in the back of my mind. I looked at the towers, and I thought, "It could have happened here. We are allies of the United States, after all." There are a couple of towers being built in Montreal. Watching workers bringing the structures up on a beautiful day and thinking of New York's Twin Towers at the same time is disturbing.

Hopefully the people who perpetrated acts of terror against the United States will pay for what they accomplished. The free world will stand by the United States' with the goal of bringing those who perpetrate these horrible acts to their knees.

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Recent My Turn articles

• Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
• 'That's Not a Computer', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
• Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
• My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
• More in the My Turn index.

Links for the Day

• Mac of the Day: Outbound Laptop and Notebook, Sep. 1989 - The best known among the early Mac clones.
• List of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
  
• August 20 in LEM history: 98: Unplanned obsolescence - 99: Open Link Policy - 01: Video editing on low end Macs - Picking a PCI video card - 02: iTunes 3 review - 04: Bad RAM can crash your Mac - Dual-core G4s coming - 07: White iBooks still a good bet? - VMware Fusion good for fusing Windows with OS X - Restoring PowerBook batteries

Recent Content on Low End Mac

• An RSS News Reader with the Power of Google, Keith Winston, Linux to Mac, 08.20. Unlike browser-based RSS readers or dedicated news reader apps, Google Reader lets you access your favorite feeds from any computer and browser.
• Pismo Won't Start, Spotlight Finds Too Many Files, and Panasonic SuperDrive in Pismo, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.20. Resetting a dead Pismo, an alternative to Spotlight gives better results, and success with the Panasonic UJ-850 drive in Pismo PowerBooks.
• Best PowerBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.20. Used 14" WallStreet G3/266 MHz, $90; Lombard G3/400 MHz, $150; Pismo G3/400 MHz, $300; 500 MHz, $350.
• Best Mac Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.20. Refurb 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,888; 2.8 8-core, $2,399; new 2.8 4-core, $2,124 after rebate; 8-core, $2,605 a/r; 3.0 $3,399 a/r; 3.2, $4,169 a/r.
• Best classic iPod Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.20. Used 40 GB, $140; 60 color, $170; 30 video, $150; refurb 80, $179; new, $230; refurb 160, $279; new, $330.
• Why Linux Isn't Mainstream, Used PowerBooks a Poor Value, the iMac G3 Legacy, and More, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 08.19. Also installing Leopard on a PowerPC Mac from an Intel installer, NeoOffice opens WordPerfect files, emulating old Macs, and where to download an iMac manual.
• What's the Best Mac OS for Your iBook, PowerBook, or MacBook?, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 08.19. Tips on choosing the best OS for your PowerBook 500 Series or newer Mac notebook.
• Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.19. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $279; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz $390; 17" 800 MHz SD, $439; 1.25 GHz, $449; 20", $569.
• Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.19. Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $999; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,450 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,649; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6, $2,299; rebates on new.
• Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.19. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, $70; DVD, $90; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $72; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $130.
• Snow Leopard, Windows 7, Midori, and the End of Windows (UPDATED), Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 08.18. A look at some of the technologies planned for Mac OS X 10.6, Windows 7, and Midori, Microsoft's future OS that could be the end of Windows.
• PCs Not Like Macs, Claris Home Page Fan, iMac G4 Upgrade Tips, iBook Prices, and More, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 08.18. Also using PC3200 RAM in a Mirror Drive Door G4, cloning the classic Mac OS to a new hard drive, and thoughts on a Windows App Store.
• REALbasic Growing to Include Cocoa, Mobile, and Web Development, Rick Lawson, Pioneers in Mac Development, 08.18. REALbasic is a cross platform development tool for Mac, Windows, and Linux. The company is working on expanding that to the Web, mobile devices, and the Mac's Cocoa.
• Best Mac mini Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.18. Used 1.25 GHz G4 SD, $549; 1.42 Combo, $409; new 1.83 Core2 Combo, $569 after rebate; 2.0 SD, $769 after rebate.
• Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.18. Used 867 MHz Combo, no APX, $490; 1 GHz SuperDrive, $625; 1.33 GHz, $611; 1.5 GHz SD w/o APX, $660; w/APX, $675.
• Resetting the iPod's Display Language When You Don't Know the Language It's Using, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.18. If you've ever set your iPod's language to one you can't read, there is a way to reset it.
• iPod 'Missing Manual' Grows but Drops Coverage of Older iPods, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.18. The 6th edition of iPod: The Missing Manual has extensive coverage of all the current iPod models, but at the cost of dropping coverage of all earlier models.
• Best Apple TV Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.18. Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $224; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $322 - prices include free ground shipping.
• More links in our archive.

Support LEM

Affiliates

The Apple Store
.mac
iTunes Store
Club Mac
MacMall
MacResQ
ExperCom
eBay
Amazon.com
PayPal
PCMall
PC Zone
Crucial Memory

Our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For detailed price quotes and advertising information, please contactat BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.