Today, the United States fell victim to what is likely the most vile, contemptable, and completely reprehensible act of terrorism the modern world has ever seen.

This tragedy was the work of base cowards who held no spark of the values of decency, compasion, or the simplest concepts of right and wrong. Innocent citizens going about their business were cruely murdered, never understanding what was happening or why. And while people around the United States stood in a state of shock today, people in Palestinian territories celebrated the death and destruction by dancing in the streets, waving flags, and grinning from ear to ear.

I never thought I'd see a form of life lower than scum, but today I did.

People in portions of the Arab world have been appearing on television, laughing, saying that it "wasn't enough," and saying the US deserved it. Palestinians who kicked up their heels and partied in the streets maintained a like attitude, claiming we (the US) brought woe upon ourselves because the government is "too friendly" with that of Israel. By this logic, they're picking on us because of who we're friend's with... am I naïve or doesn't behavior like that normally end in elementary school?

Israel and Palestine have been fighting a "holy war" for over 2000 years, it was started long before anyone even knew of the American continents. They squabble over land, religion, ethnicity, politics, and just about anything else that could possibly be squabbled over. They've hated each other for thousands of years, and now suddenly they blame the US for all their problems???

Last time I checked, the United States holds no mystic mind control abilities, nor do they have Luke Skywalker at their beckon call to employ Jedi mind tricks.

People are responsible for their fates. They choose what to do with their lives every second of every day. Sleep or get up? Walk or drive? Pizza or hambugers? The law of our land as dictated in the Declaration of Indepedence gives us the right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' three rights which were taken from those who died today at the hands of fanatic lunatics.

The perpetraitor envied our way of life, for instance, the way we can walk down the street without fear of militant extremists starting a firefight on the sidewalk... the way our cities are clean and intact without bombed out hulls of buildings...the way our presidents and governors don't gun each other down to win elections. It's easy to see how lucky we are as a country, and it's something we should be grateful for. But terrorists do not appriciate our way of life, they envy it, and decided if they couldn't have it, then we shouldn't either.

Envy is one of the deadliest sins, the root behind much suffering in the world throughout history. In The Bible, James 3:16 warns us: "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." And today we saw the truth of these words.

Copyright 2001 by Carol Harrington.