The terrorist attack on fortress America.

An Appeal to the American People following the destruction of several business and military centers
by Persons Unknown!

The horrors of total war struck a part of America yesterday. The attacks reminded me of when I sat down to breakfast in Chicago that morning of Pearl Harbor. They reminded me also of the suicidal kamikaze tactics that so terribly struck American naval forces as World War II neared its close, attacks that ended only because the enemy ran out of planes. They reminded me of the bombings that I witnessed as a soldier in World War II, the thousand tons that fell on the Abbey of Cassino, the bombing and blasting of so many villages and cities from Africa to Germany.

There is one difference widely believed to be significant: yesterday’s assaults on the United States were not done in the name of a nation or recognized rebel force, but were "terrorist" attacks. But so-called "terrorism" is warfare by other means, "disjointed warfare," where contending hostile forces possess vastly disproportionate formal capabilities as military establishments. One man’s "terrorist" is his enemy’s "partisan" or "maquis" or "rebel" or "Robin Hood." People usually do not realize that behind the terrorist may be a population as large as ours, cheering him on, or silently hoping for his success. Nor that behind the terrorist may be a line of eager volunteers awaiting their turn.

How should such violence and its continuous threat be dealt with?

Revenge is out of the question.

Appeasement is out of the question.

The right actions are for world justice and beneficial order, carried to the point where the line of volunteer terrorists reaches zero.

America cannot act as if it were super-powered arbiter of the world.

The United States is a rich country only relative to a badly managed world.

Nor does it have a perfect constitution, nor much more than a mediocre government. During the twentieth century, America committed one grave error after another in its domestic and foreign policies.

The people who run America are no better than the people whom they lead.

Under such circumstances and conditions, disasters such as have just occurred, in the destruction of several centers of American business and military affairs by persons unknown, are to be expected and are less damaging than other disasters that can be foreseen.

Because of its control of resources and technology, America is potentially the most effective instrument for obtaining a world worth living in.

How can America change, and then act, so as to bring the world to an even keel and keep it there?

1. The American government can pledge itself toward an effective world union and take prompt steps toward achieving the goals of humanity.

2. The American government can drive itself and the rest of the nations toward guaranteeing every human a decent subsistence, including basic food, shelter, medicine, protection of personal rights and safety, and education.

3. An absolute ban on all nuclear weapons can be imposed on all countries without exception.

4. The veto power possessed by certain nations over the actions of the United Nations Security Council can be abolished, and the Security Council made more representative of the population, resources, and skills of the world.

5. A single world currency can be established, under the control of a special agency of the UN Security Council.

6. Ethnic minorities, as well as all persons, can have the right to an effective appeal of grievances, including the provision of reasonable autonomy.

7. No religious group anywhere shall be armed, including any religious elements who are officially sponsored by a government, nor shall any religious group anywhere be given government protection beyond that normally extended to any other religious group.

8. A new tax can be levied per capita on all Americans – man, woman, and child – in the amount needed to carry into effect the preceding seven policies. The government would provide from other financial sources the amount of this tax for all persons too poor or dependent to pay their share. This tax can be called the "World Justice and Order Tax." All other governments would be required to pay their share of this tax, and the proceeds would be administered by an "Emergency World Justice and Order Agency" established by the Security Council of the United Nations.

Unless the United States of America adopts this program or one that achieves the same ends, the USA most likely will serve up a soup of weak, ineffectual, and bad policies that will induce further disasters, whether they be gradual and long-lasting as in the Palestine region, or short-term as in the events of yesterday in America.

End of Appeal