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Your comments are welcome at wtcthoughts@hugeworld.com
-----Original Message-----
From: J. Chalmers Browne [mailto:chal@hero.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 11:21 PM
To: <many people>
Subject:
You all know that I do not spam you often or without reason. My friend Ken Berland has taken the initiative to post a petition for deliberation and restraint in our response to the recent terrorist attacks. I will humbly take credit for the
wordsmithing. I hope you will take the time to read it, think about it, add your name to the list if you agree with it, and forward it to those you know. We hope to attract enough attention to make a difference quickly, so please act quickly if you are so inclined.
http://hero.com/cgi-mod/opine.cgi
J. Chalmers Browne
New York City
___________________Original text of petition included below___________________
Petition for a Just, Thoughtful, and Creative Response to the 9/11 Tragedy
We the undersigned are frightened by the current rhetoric of our government and the proposed response implied by it. Violence only leads to more violence. While we understand the need to make a strong statement on the world stage, we insist on the importance of taking the time to mourn our dead and to craft a response that achieves all of our objectives.
Our leaders need to know that we support them in the delay necessary for deliberation and careful consideration, to ensure that any actions taken are just and effective, not simply swift. Our objectives cannot be simple vengeance. There are not enough eyes to gouge out; we can't even the score for this horror.
We face an enemy that cannot be brought to justice through a pure military response. They hide within the fabric of civilian society and are shielded by ostensibly legitimate sovereign governments. Just as you cannot remove a virus with a scalpel, you cannot remove this threat with bombs.
Throughout this century, the United States has worked hard to create a "world diplomatic community," and right now they are united behind us as never before. If we only use this opportunity to execute a "global assault" without fear of a UN Security Council censure, we will have squandered an important opportunity, and we will risk descent into the same spiral of retribution that continues to destroy the Middle East, the Balkans, and other cultural Hatfields and McCoys around the world.
This country was made great by our indomitable ingenuity. We believe that the political and military minds of our leadership can and must devise a response that changes the scope of the battle and shifts the conditions under which it is fought. The United States must frame its response on a different scale, show the world that we too can act in ways they haven't thought of, and that we can wield power that is different by orders of magnitude.
One of the things that makes the American people the greatest people in the world that we can absorb the most grievous injuries without clamoring for immediate, indiscriminate, bloody reprisals. One of the things that makes America the greatest nation on earth is that our political system is stable enough that our leaders, even under circumstances this dire, can act with deliberation, wait for evidence and information, and act when it is appropriate and just without fear of instability or civil unrest in the intervening time.
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Your comments are welcome at wtcthoughts@hugeworld.com
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