VigilanceVoice

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Thursday--October 24, 2002—Ground Zero Plus 407
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Sniper Vigilance
 & Russia's Terrorists
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by
Cliff McKenzie
   Editor, New York City Combat Correspondent News
 

       GROUND ZERO, New York City, October 24 -- The major headlines in the US shouted the capture of the sniper--but Pravda, the Russian newspaper, is filled with its own World Trade Center Terrorism.
       Terrorism is contagious, or, it has always bred the same intensity and we're just realizing how powerful it can be to strike Fear, Intimidation and Complacency into the innocent, the vulnerable.

        In Moscow, Chechen rebels seize a 1,600-seat theater, and hold over 600 hostages, demanding Russia stop its war on their people.  In addition to wearing "suicide bombs," the rebels have wired the building with explosives, and threaten to explode them, bringing down the structure and killing all within.
        A majority of the guerrillas are women, according to Pravda, the Russian newspaper and many are widows of Chechen guerrillas killed by Russian troops.   To avenge the deaths of their husbands, Pravda reported, they are willing to kill themselves and others.  Hostages inside the Cultural Center had planned to see a Russian musical.
        Tatyana Solnyshkina, one of the hostages, talked to Russian authorities via the cell.   She pleaded:  "We beg you not to shoot, not to storm the building.  We beg you.  Don't start the storm, don't shoot at them.   There are girls next to me with lots of explosives on them.  Men with machine guns.  That is why--don't shoot at them."
       The Terrorists warned that for any Chechen guerrilla who is "hurt," they will retaliate by killing ten hostages.  The Palace of Culture for the Moscow Ball-Bearing Factory, where the hostages are being held, is only three miles from the Kremlin.
       What was also interesting in Pravda this morning, was an article about why Russia should preempt the United States and attack Iraq

 The author of the article noted that Russia is concerned its oil interests in Iraq will be usurped by the United States if America takes over the regime change.  Russia's oil giant, LUKOIL, has a $20 billion contract with Iraq to explore for oil, and Russia is concerned that if America leads the world in removing Hussein, the new regime will nullify those contracts and favor American oil companies, claiming them illegal because they were entered into with Saddam Hussein.   In a quote, Pravda said:  "Now it is becoming obvious that the American administration wants all Iraqi oil for its own oil companies."   The Russian's claim France is in the same situation, vulnerable to America's thirst for oil.
        A spokesman for LUKOIL, Mikhail Dolgov, said that Moscow is obliged to stand up for the interests of Russian companies in Iraq, regardless of the Baghdad regime. 
       In the concluding paragraph the following question was posed:  "What if Russia deploys its commandoes to Baghdad for the sake of saving the people of Iraq from the horrors of war?   This no longer seems to be the idea of a fanatic.  This move could become much more efficient.  Probably, it could provide a crisis that the CIA and the US State Department analysts did not even think of.  Then, it will be time for a different kind of world order, taking into consideration everybody's business."
       Three degrees of Terror this morning--a caught sniper, a building full of hostages in Moscow, and the innuendo that Russia might preempt the United States in toppling Saddam Hussein.

      One degree of Terror seems to be resolved.   The sniper suspect appears to be caught.  John Allen Mohammed, 42, aka John Allen Williams, and his 17-year-old stepson, were arrested while they slept in their car at a rest stop.   Mohammed, who converted to the Islamic religion, is reported to be a 10-year Army veteran.  Police surrounded the suspects' car based on a tip from a passing motorist.   MSNBC analysis, former FBI agent Joe Cassandro, called the discovery of the suspects an "act of Vigilance by the public."  Descriptions of the car and suspects had been broadcast on various networks and cable news shows over the past 24 hours.
       The fate of the 600 hostages in Moscow isn't as bright.   The concert hall is surrounded by Russian special forces.  One of the Chechen guerrillas who decides not to surrender can set off another holocaust, igniting the explosives and bringing down the building.
        And finally, whether the hint that Russian commandos will assault Baghdad to preempt America and preserve their oil stakes, seems improbable.   However, in today's world, the improbable can transform instantly into the reality.
        Reading the papers this morning reminded me of that carnival game where gophers pop up their heads randomly and you try and hit them. 
        It seems Terrorism's head might be whacked in one place, but in another it pops up, requiring "Terror Hunters" to spin and twist here and there, almost ad infinitum.   It also suggests that we don't know what's coming "next." 
        As I write this, President Bush is aboard his helicopter, Marine One, enroute to garner votes for Republican candidates, then off to visit world leaders to get support for military attacks on Iraq.
        In the midst of all the global jockeying to smother Terrorism, or change regimes, the power of Vigilance seems to have popped to the surface--at least with respect to catching sniper suspects.
        A passing motorist, alert to the news media blitz of the suspects' identity and car description, put their capture in the hands of the people.   Back in time, when we lived in far more primitive environments, humans didn't wait for some state or federal force to protect them.  They weren't Complacent in protecting their families or children.   They took "Vigilance" into their own hands -  i.e. they assumed the duty and responsibility for securing the peace of their "village."
       It seems the finding of the "sniper" was an example of the "power of the people," as was commented on by the MSNBC's FBI analyst.  
       I'd like to believe that Vigilance across America, and the world, would serve to protect us more than waiting for government to do what is our duty.    Pravda shot a barb at Russia's security systems for allowing the guerrillas access to the city, denouncing the security for not exercising closer controls.    Perhaps Pravda should have asked all its citizens to become Mothers, Fathers, Parents, Grandparents and Citizens of Vigilance rather than abdicating that role to the government.

      When we look at our duty to Vigilance, we can't look any farther than our own mirror.   Any attempt to point fingers at others is a form of Complacency, an act of Intimidation, and a sign of one's Fear to face reality.
        Reality demands we take charge of our security as individuals, as family members, and as members of our communities.    This doesn't mean we don't rely on police or law enforcement to back us up, but it does mean we don't hand over the right to Vigilance to them, and walk around ducking and weaving in hopes we aren't Terrorism's next victim.
        And, when you boil it all down, John Mohammad's acts of Terrorism can be traced back to his parents, his loved ones.  Somewhere along the line he was wrongly trained that violence against others was just.   The roots of his Terrorism do not belong solely to him, if he is found guilty of the heinous crimes.   They belong to his genetic pool, to those who didn't teach him the art of Vigilance--that his mission in life as a human being was to protect the physical and emotional security of the children's children's children.
       Had he learned the Principles of Vigilance, he certainly wouldn't have allegedly shot over a dozen people, killing the majority of them, including one child.   Had his parents subscribed to the Pledge of Vigilance, and shared their deep emotional and physical love for him as a important asset to humanity, he would have sought to build rather destroy humanity.

       More importantly, he wouldn't have subscribed his step-son to join him in such a killing rampage, teaching a child Terrorism rather than Vigilance.

       In Russia, the same holds true of Terrorists holding 600 hostages.   They have devalued the lives of others, put the hostages at risk to further their own agenda.    As no good came from the attacks on the World Trade Center, no good will come from blowing up the Cultural Center three miles from the Kremlin.
       And the talk of oil in Iraq as the pivot point for either America or Russia to make a regime change in Iraq is also troubling.   Where is the concern for the children?  Or their children's children?

      One day, the resources of the world will be prized not in the form of oil or gold or food, but in human life.  When we run deficits on billboards as New York City does flashing the national debt penny by penny so all can see, we will broadcast instead the economic loss of human life as our greatest human deficit.    When we look a the millions of dollars lost by each person's untimely death, we might be able to translate human value to human Vigilance.
       That day will come as Americans and the world slowly, but surely, embrace the Pledge of Vigilance, and the attendant principles that accompany it.    For when Fear bows to Courage, and Intimidation skulks away in the face of Conviction, and Complacency knows no hiding place because Right Action drives it from the spotlight, the human right to evolution will accelerate.   Peace and prosperity will replace Terrorism and human bankruptcy.

        Don't wait for the next Terrorist attack.

        Take your Pledge of Vigilance today.  Arm yourself with tools to secure your family and loved ones, so when Terrorism next pops up, you will have a way pound its head without fatigue or a sense of futility.

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