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		Points of View November 11, 2001 Guest Column © 2001 Ben Hartsell Published with Permission

September 11: A personal commentary

October 2001

September 11 moved me like nothing I've experienced in my lifetime, and I hope never to experience anything like it again. The enormity of the whole thing struck me rather suddenly on the Monday after, when I received a call that led to this commentary:

Today, I got a phone call that brought home the insanity of the situation we, as a country, are in because of what happened last week. It was my mom, asking me to send my little brother (he's seven years old) a letter, an email or something to let him know that I'm alive and O.K., and to reassure him that everything's going to be fine. She told me that, ever since he found out what happened last Tuesday, he's been afraid to go to school, or to go anywhere without knowing that Mom and Dad will be there and O.K. when he gets back.

My stomach started to churn when she told me this; my brother's at the age where he should be looking forward to playing outside after school, not worrying about whether or not his family's still going to be there when he gets back. I simply can't imagine what it would be like, being only seven years old and being told about what happened last week, or God forbid, seeing the same images that the rest of us saw. It seems that the terrorists succeeded in at least part of their mission: An entire generation of kids have lost their innocence before their time.

It hit me then: War is not the answer. If we, as a country, call for action against any country that might be harboring terrorists, in order to instill the fear of the United States in them, we're no better than the terrorists we're trying to stop. Violence begets violence, as it's been said thousands of times before. If we terrorize the world, the world will only be too eager to make us pay for our actions, just as we, as a nation, are calling for the wholesale bombing of wherever these terrorists might live.

The only way to finish off all of the terrorists in this world is through peace, and generally being a nicer nation the world over; war might end the threat to our country now, but it'll leave inestimable hatred in its wake. Imagine millions of parents in one of these countries telling their children the cause of their suffering is the United States, and the effect this will have on the world when these kids become adults. Ten or fifteen years from now, I don't want to have to explain to my children that thousands of Americans died in an attack, again, because we killed thousands of innocent people bombing Afghanistan.

The cynical part of me says that we're going to invade the country where these terrorists are hiding, anyway, and then "rid the world of evil," as the President put it. Yes, this will bring satisfaction in the short term; revenge is supposed to be sweet. But, in the long term, I fear that we're going to create a situation we won't be able to fight our way out of. These terrorists must be brought to justice, but war is NOT the answer.

Now, one month later, we're at war with none other than Afghanistan, with the right to pick other fights firmly reserved. My brother has mostly recovered from his shock; he's no longer afraid to go to school, and though he still can't wait for me to come home again, he's no longer afraid for my life. Yet, horrible as it is, I hope he never forgets September 11, but instead grows to realize that it is the product of a vicious cycle: Hatred only breeds more hatred, which leads to violence.

Perhaps his generation will finally bring an end to war, once and for all; it's not likely, but I'm not ready to give up hope just yet.

Learn more about the author of this guest column, Ben Hartsell.

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