INTERNATIONAL McCARTHYISM

The horrific example of international terrorism that destroyed thousands of lives and crumbled the World Trade Center has sent the media and many freedom loving countries into a frenzy of beefing up security measures and coalescing plans for retaliation. For almost a month we have been deluged by media replays and interviews by and with every talking head in the nation. However, in my opinion it is time for some clear, cool-headed thinking about the situation.

Our President has publicly declared war on terrorism and any country that supports or harbors terrorists. The Islamic people of the world are in a panic, they are either evacuating target areas or mobilizing in preparation for repelling an invasion, and so far there hasn't been a shot fired or a perpetrator punished. Our true goals haven't been defined, the limits of our pursuit of terrorist haven't been established and if the President's statement can be taken literally, how many members of the coalition can be counted on the remain co-operative?

For example, Germany has a terrorist group called the Neo-Nazis that they are harboring, not supporting but harboring. Japan has theirs and the Irish Republican Army has been blowing up school busses and murdering women and children for decades. What happens when we invade and destroy those bloody murderers? There are groups in Spain, Holland and all over Europe. What then?

First, we should set a shining example at home ... we are undoubtedly harboring and in a way supporting the Ku-Klux-Klan, they are known to be responsible for many atrocities. The Skin Heads, the Mexican Mafia, and assorted cartels are responsible for terrorizing our local communities, but we continue to harbor them.

Many citizens and businesses contribute to their organizations... we need to keep better track of how who spends their money.

Obviously we can't destroy these organizations we are harboring here in our own country because they have too many constitutional rights, and I'm sure that many other short-sighted democratically constituted countries have the same problem. The solution to that is to pressure the other members of our coalition to join us in changing our and their constitutions to remove those rights to privacy and equal treatment under the law. We really should do this and take punitive actions before doing so abroad.

Is this starting to sound familiar to those who lived through the McCarthy years of FBI investigations and listing of thousands of private citizens as suspected of having socialistic or Marxist leanings? You bet!

This is why I believe we should calmly and clearly establish a plan of action, limits of engagement and full scope of intent before starting something that could quickly get out of hand and start World War 111.

In closing, I want to admit, this has been a sort of "tongue-in-cheek" column about a very serious matter; however, I do believe the course of action we now pursue, the decisions our leaders make, and the spin the media put on what they think; is the most challenging and historical event we will ever experience.