Let's Be Examples

I believe that at one time, most of the world looked up to us as knights who, for the most part, rode white horses. We were on top in education, medical care, life expectancy and morality. We are now far down the list in all of these -- and we have begun painting our horses black.

We are not only hurting ourselves, but all others who look to us for an example. Worst of all, we are making choices that will not leave our children a safer world. Long-term safety will not depend upon who does or does not have WMDs. In our technologically advanced world, there will be ways for the few to kill the many and the first victim of the war against terrorism will be personal liberty. Peace, liberty and safety will ultimately depend upon who hates whom and what is universally accepted as decent human behavior.

For example, the beheadings and the torture rooms found in Iraq are barbaric. The world should react with outraged censure and condemnation. That will accomplish far more than establishing torture rooms of our own. We do not want to participate in an escalation of the barbaric.

We have learned a kinder, gentler method of being strong -- and in the long run, it will work. We must not let an incident like 9/ll slip us backward into a less civilized state. We must keep the bar high for ourselves and for the rest of the world, or we will find ourselves with far more to worry about than 9/11.