GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Jan. 7, 2004 -- Terror Hunting these days involves some slick math.   First, you have 12,800 Iraqi "detainees" held by U.S. and coalition forces.    Today, we announced the release of 506 of them.   At the same time, 30 more were added to the "hot list."
        The idea behind the release is to encourage others to "rat out" other Terrorists, or affiliates, so they may be set free also.   The 506 are considered "low-level" detainees--the water boys of Terrorism affiliation.

       Terror Hunting has become a challenge for everyone.    On the one hand, you want all the suspects to spill their guts in hopes it might lead you to Osama bin Laden hiding in a hole somewhere, as it did with Saddam Hussein.
       On the other hand, the question of human rights and legal rights flies up to haunt you as you deprive the detainees of fundamental rights to defend themselves against their accusers.
       Add to that the new fingerprinting of foreign nationals entering the United States, and the idea of Terror Hunting becomes a bit more complicated.    We begin to look like bloodhounds, sniffing out just about every shadow that moves and yet are haunted by audio tapes from Osama bin Laden calling for more jihads.
       The thrust to ferret out Terrorists is a sign of the times.  But, it begs the real question:  Who is hunting down the Terrorism within each of us?
       I often think of External vs. Internal Terrorism.

       The External Terrorism is the kind we all see on television and read about in newspapers.   It's about the bombs and bullets, the snipers and hunts for Osama and Saddam that suggest if we cut off the head of the serpent, we'll all be safe.
       Internal Terrorism is far more nefarious.
       It's about the Terrorism that we, as individuals, hide from view.  It's about our Fear, our Intimidation and our Complacency toward many aspects of our own lives, and often, a reflection of our retreat from the world at large.
       Most of us suffer various forms and degrees of Internal Terrorism, ranging from how we feel about our looks to the Fear we will never be "somebody special."   We ignore these Beasts of Internal Terror, as we have the 12,800 Iraqi detainees.   For most of us, we look away from our Beasts of Terror.  We deny they exist or we simply swallow hard and accept the Terrorism as a way of life.

        The mother or father who is so busy at work trying to keep ends meet sits in shock and awe when he or she finds out the kids are smoking grass, or having sex, or dialing up naughty sites on the web, or, are in identity crisis because they aren't "as popular as" the other kids.
       Our Internal Terrorisms never get "released" as the 506 Iraqi detainees will be.   Our thousand forms of Fear, our multitudes of degrees of Intimidation, and our mountainous forms of Complacency all seem to heap up, one upon the other, with no dislodging of any to make room for the new.
       At least the U.S. and its allies released some to make room for more.   Most of us human beings don't flush away our old Beasts of Terror to make room for new ones.  Often the Fears, the Intimidations and Complacencies we held fast to as children remain as vivid to us as adults as they did then.
       If we were to carve open our "Caves of Terror" we would find them overcrowded with demons we have collected throughout our lives.   No wonder we find it hard to sit with our children, our grandchildren or loved ones and talk about Fear, Intimidation and Complacency in a way that releases them from our storehouses.  There are far too many.  They would be trampled to death by the hoards of Beast Thoughts crammed into our small minds.
       But, we have no choice if we want to be Sentinels of Vigilance.
       Looking at what the U.S. is doing to manage External Terrorism--detainees, fingerprinting, Homeland Security--means that we are expanding our Vigilance as Terror Hunters.   We are digging up the presence of Terrorism in and around our land, and, at the same time, expelling those with lesser degrees of Terrorism as evidenced by the recent release of the 506 Iraqis.
       Still, we have more than 12,294 Iraqi detainees behind bars, and another 30 on the "hot list."  
       Our detainees are like our minds--full of Terror Suspects.   

       When we look in the mirror, what do we see.  How much Fear, Intimidation and Complacency lurks there looking back at us--stuff we have held onto for years that booby traps our lives and threatens our Emotional Security and the security of our children?
         Think about it.   If you were to make a Fear, Intimidation and Complacency Inventory, how long would it be?    How far back would it reach?   How real would it be?
          And, what are we doing to release the demons?
          The Principles of Vigilance contained in the Pledge of Vigilance remind us that we need apply only One Percent more Courage to banish Fear, and One Percent more Conviction to chase away Intimidation, and take One Percent more Right Actions to put Complacency on the run.
          How often do we do this?
          How many times a day do we let Fear, Intimidation and Complacency sweep through our thoughts without neutralizing them?    Where do they go if we don't detain them?  Do they sink to the bottom of our minds like sludge in a tar pit, building up year after year and moving about like an iceberg with only the tip sticking out and majority hidden deep in the recess of our mind's darkest corners?
         What makes us feel "less than" or "not as good as," or "victims of" when all around us everyone else seems to be chugging along while we are dragging our leaden baggage with exhaustion?

            Perhaps it is time for us to release our Beast of Terror Detainees.   If not all of them at once, perhaps maybe, 506 of them.   Odds are, if we spent enough time carving into our inner minds and isolating all degrees of a lifetime of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency, we would find at least 12,800 instances in which we have felt the Fangs of the Beast of Terror.
         Most probably, after honest evaluation, we would also find that we didn't defuse our Terror Time Bombs.   We just buried them in the sand, hoping they wouldn't go off.  We probably didn't purposefully attack Fear with Courage, or Intimidation with Conviction, or Complacency with Right Actions that benefit the Children's Children's Children.
          Had we done those things, we wouldn't feel that hole in our gut, that empty place in our stomach where icy winds seem to blow through.  We probably wouldn't look in the mirror and question our self worth, or wonder where our lives went wrong, or worry about the future repeating itself and keeping us shoved under the water, struggling and fighting to gasp air.

          Maybe it's time to release the "low-level" Beasts of Terror you have detained for many years.   Make a list.    Prioritize your Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies and then release the oldest, most innocuous of them.   
           If the Beast is a giant, cutting off its toes and then its ankles and shins will slowly shrink the Beast to manageable size.
          One day, you can get the Beast to eye level.  You can look the Beast of Terror in the eye and realize that you can control him or her rather than be controlled by him or her.
          And, you can be assured your children have started to accumulate their own list of Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies.   Ask them.   They'll tell you.    And, the more you share your Fears, Intimidations and Complacencies with them, the more they will with you.

           You can teach your children and loved ones to cut the legs off their Beasts of Terror by showing them how you do it to your own Beasts.    When you sit with your kids and share with them how you used Courage, Conviction and Right Actions that benefit future generations to limit the Fear, Intimidation and Complacency, your kids will understand.  
            You will show them how to release their detainees.
            You will show them how to be a Sentinel of Vigilance by not being consumed by the Beast of Terror.
            It will be a great gift to make your children aware they can be Terror Hunters and never fall victim for long to the Beast of Terror's wrath.
            Start the process today.  Release your Terror Detainees.  Take the Pledge of Vigilance and be on your way.