GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Feb 2, 2004 -- It may be hard for most Americans to find value in the senseless deaths of nearly 3,000 on Nine Eleven when 18 Terrorists attacked the security of the United States and proved our vulnerability is the same as any third-world nation.

         Doubters of the value of that day need to take a hard look at Iran to realize the great sacrifice and positive impact Nine Eleven is imparting to Citizens of Vigilance throughout the globe.
          One third of the Iranian Parliament turned in their resignations on our Super Bowl Sunday in protest to a sweeping ban on candidates running for election slated for later this month.
         The ban would be similar to President George Bush banning the Democrats from running a candidate for office.   It would mute Howard Dean, John Kerry, John Edwards and the herd of contenders seeking to unseat President Bush.
         In speeches broadcast on Iranian media, those who resigned accused the conservative Iranian factions of trying to impose a religious dictatorship similar to the Taliban.  They referenced the fact that American-led forces had uprooted the Taliban in Afghanistan.

         The common resignation statement read:  "We cannot continue to be present in a Parliament that is not capable of defending the rights of the people and that is unable to prevent elections in which the people cannot choose their representatives."
        While this news may zoom over the heads of those eager to dive into the sports page to consume the minute details of how the Patriots rallied to beat the Panthers in a hard-fought battle for grid-iron domination, the real news is about the value of death.
        As a survivor of Nine Eleven, I search each day for news that might vindicate the deaths of the innocent who died before my eyes in a horrible holocaust that leaves one empty inside.
        "Why?"   This haunting question gnaws like subterranean termites at the very foundation of all who were part, or have been part, of any Terrorist attack.    They want answers to help heal the sadness in their souls over having lost loved ones, or comrades, or simply because they fear the repeat of the events over which they were totally powerless to stop.
         The protest by one third of the Iranian Parliament offers a partial answer to the question:  "Why did so many die so senselessly that day?"
         The Iranians want freedom not Terrorism to rule their land, at least, one-third of them do.    They demand representative government instead of tyranny and oppression, to guide the destiny of their Children's Children's Children.
          And, they are willing to stand up for their beliefs.
          I often think about why so many died on Nine Eleven, and how to justify their deaths, if that is ever possible.  
          The answer, in part, is the Vigilance Ripple Effect (VRE).

        It comes from what meteorologists call the "butterfly effect" that suggests  the flapping of a butterfly's wing will create a disturbance that in the chaotic motion of the atmosphere will become amplified eventually to change the large scale atmospheric motion, so that the long term behavior becomes impossible to forecast.
         In other words, the flapping of a butterfly's wings can create a storm somewhere in the world.    The Vigilance Ripple Effect proposes the opposite:    That a Terrorist attack--laced with horror and destruction--can create calm and beauty, without chaos.
         It is similar to finding Hope in the aftermath of the storm, or seeking to find the Good that results out of Bad (tragedy).
         Iran illustrates the VRE.
         America's reaction to Terrorism has been to remove it by force.   Our assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan, and then the removal of Saddam Hussein's strangle hold on Iraq flow from the deaths of so many Americans on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
         Libya's recent capitulation of its Weapons of Mass Destruction is another example of the VRE.    The ripple effect of Terrorism has turned potential storms into calmer states.
         The Iranian Parliament is one clear example of VRE.   Standing up for representative government in Iran seems as far distant a reality as installing a monarchy in America.   However, the Parliament suggests a mirror of what many in America would like to see--their representatives resigning over a dispute with leadership.   When one's personal future is put at risk for principles, this is the highest of all gifts one can give to the future of the children.   It illustrates the power of Courage, Conviction and Right Action--the fundamental Principles of Vigilance.
         How does the Iranian stand against the pressure of the Beast of Terror underscore the value of American deaths one September 11, 2001?   

        When I was at Ground Zero that day, watching the burning buildings and feeling the horror of watching people leaping to the deaths from ninety stories high, there was no sense to anything.   It appeared to be a total moment of horror.  People screamed.  Blood flowed on the streets.   Then the ground heaved as though the Beast of Terror was rising out of the bowels of the earth itself.   Suddenly, there was a great explosion as millions of pounds of concrete imploded, and two of the greatest structures in the world were reduced to rubble, forming a graveyard for thousands.
         I choked and gagged that day, inhaling the dust and debris, dazed and confused by the senselessness of it all.   Then rage and anger swelled, demanding retribution, seeking resolution and penalty for crimes committed.

       But then I began to seek the Hope that is alleged to exist in the Dismay, the light that is supposed to flicker at the end of the long tunnel.    As I saw the rise of the Sentinels of Vigilance hovering over Ground Zero, forming a Circle of Vigilance atop the death and destruction, I began to look for Good out of the Bad, to find the Plus hidden in the haystack of Minuses, to find Vigilance in the Shadow of the Beast.
         The Iranian Parliament gave me one more justification for the deaths of my fellow citizens, my Sentinels of Vigilance, our Sentinels of Vigilance.

         The reverse of the butterfly effect is to create calm out of storms.   This Vigilant Ripple Effect suggests that in some small or large way, the Iranian Parliament does not want Terrorism to take charge of its land.  It doesn't want to risk the wrath of the Sentinels of Vigilance. 

      And from the rubble of death and destruction comes the desire to reduce it, to stand up to the Beast of Terror, to face him with Courage, Conviction and Right Actions, as one-third of the Iranian Parliament did on our Super Bowl Sunday when they tendered their resignations in protest to the ban on elections.
         Shakespeare once said:  "Sweet are the thorns of adversity."   Iranians who stood up against the threat of a non-representative government are the sweet tip of the thorns of adversity.    They remind all of us who survived the terrible events of Nine Eleven that there is Hope, and, that the deaths of so many on that day stand as symbols to the world that Terrorism's days are numbered.

        I would like to think that the Souls of the Spirits of Vigilance whispered in the ears of the Iranian Parliament members who resigned.   I would like to stretch the wings of the butterfly effect to include their ability to soothe rather than create chaos to lands far away.
       Each Parent of Vigilance has the option to share the news of Iran with his or her children.   It is an opportunity to remind children that Vigilance has longer arms than Terrorism.  Who would have thought a few years ago that one-third of Iranian leaders would protest the lack of representative government?    Who would have thought the beliefs and convictions of the individual would be greater than the future of a politician?
      And where did the source of the resignations flow from?

      Could it be the Vigilance Ripple Effect?  Did the chaos and Terror of Nine Eleven flap its wings and shift the thinking of leaders who once ruled with abandon to pause and think and reevaluate the destiny of their nations?
      There is little doubt in my mind that the leaders in Iran don't want tyranny to take control.    They want what every Parent of Vigilance wants, a nation that reflects the wishes of its citizens--and that isn't rulers who force feed the citizens to consume dogma without question.
      If the Sentinels of Vigilance live after Nine Eleven, they live in the decisions that people make to insure a better world, Terror free, for the children.  Iranians are thinking along those lines.   They are fighting for the right of Vigilance over Terrorism.    They don't want their nation to fall into the Pit of Terror where the few attempt to represent the many.

         If one is looking for value and substance out of the deaths of so many Americans on Nine Eleven, the best view is not to look on granite stones that have their names etched to immortalize their sacrifice.    Instead, one needs to look some 7,500 miles away, to Iran where the great living tribute to the Sentinels of Vigilance is being played out in real time.   
         There, in a country few would think, floats a butterfly.  It is flapping its Wings of Vigilance, reminding the people of that land that Terrorism doesn't work, but representative government does.
      Listen for the wings of the butterfly.   Feel the Vigilance Ripple Effect.
      Even in Iran.

Jan 31--Super Bowl Sunday: A Day Of Terror For Families or Vigilance

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