I do not know if attacking Afghanistan is a good idea, the main reason being: Osama bin Laden retaliation doesn't have to be mobilized. The al-Qaeda has groups of terrorists already located within our country. You might have noticed that several terrorists were recently found in Boston. I have a feeling bin Laden would just laugh at bombings of his sanctuary country and then initiate one of many terrorist operations in a counter-move. And no security measures secswould be able to stop a car bomb, chemical release, or cyber-attack. The revolutionary war was won by "hidden forces" against a much larger, much stronger British army. Plus, those "hidden forces" didn't have the option to use very powerful bombs, have their pick of multiple crowded towns and cities, and be willing to give their life for the cause.
Our government is getting into something that could potentially put us over our heads in domestic violence, and I only wish there were some easy way to rectify the situation. It's a result of our country becoming too populated and powerful with intimidation, keeping all lessers at bay. We probably won't be able to talk the Taliban into assisting us in a hunt for bin Laden, but we should at least try to work out our differences (I hate sounding like a kindergarten teacher). I agree that a "No Action" response would be wrong, but so would dropping millions of dollars worth of explosives throughout Afghanistan (that option also seems kinda cowardly). Our armed forces, and country for that matter, want to get this al-Qaeda organization, and the only reasonable (and honorable) plan for doing this would be a large scale infantry sweep of many areas bin Laden is suspected of hiding in. Satellites and intelligence would lead us to general, or even specific places to look. We'll just have to explain that they should be able to understand why we're there, and how we mean the innocent citizens no harm. Bottom line is, counter attacking is not needed (we don't need to establish superiority like in Iraq) and would perpetuate the cycle of violence which I foresee will be going on for a while. "Hey, he started it..." It's kinda funny how those kindergarten lessons are valid on large scale issues.
Another thing that bothers me is that no organization is taking responsibility for these intentional plane crashes. If it was an Islamic organization, do they just deny involvement and cherish the warm and fuzzy feeling that they killed plenty of Americans and showed the world that the US is no impenetrable fortress? If world-wide terror is truly the only motive, then whoever is behind this is really, really messed up. We can sort of see how the US government benefits from this tragedy; establishing leadership and control (self-worth) over US citizens, boosting the economy by preparing for war, channeling money into waning government sectors (military). But I don't think even the most radial and unpatriotic individuals in this country would start proclaiming conspiracy theories. Whatever might ensue, I hope that action is never financially motivated and world-wide civilians will be left out of the blood-shed as much as possible.
Eddie Galbavy is a senior majoring in environmental engineering and geology.
