GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Mar. 13, 2004 -- Each day physical and biological Terrorism takes the lives of 299 Americans and we are never told about the sum of those deaths.

        Complacent Terrorism muffles the facts.
      The watchdogs of our society--the press--would rather report the killing of two soldiers in Iraq by Iraqi Terrorists disguised as policemen, or splash across the headlines the horror of a Terrorist attack that left 192 dead in one day in Madrid, 100 less than die daily at the hands of Terrorism here in the United States.
        Then there are those politicians railing against the war in Iraq who climb upon the bodies of the 500 dead Americans who sacrificed their lives over the past year at the rate of a little more than one per day and try and use the dead bodies as examples of poor and misguided leadership while saying nothing about the 299 body bags piling up each day within the borders of America.
        Terrorism has become a political rather than a practical football.   One seems to elect the nature of its use rather than calling it by its real name whenever it appears.

       Let's take a 4,000-pound bomb rushing down the road at 65 miles per hour, heading for a 2,000-pound vehicle packed with children on their way to a soccer game.   The Terrorist inside the 4,000-pound bomb is drunk and slams head-on into the vehicle packed with the kids, splaying their bodies across the road in a horrible sacrifice to the gods of alcohol, to a careless and selfish disregard for human life.
          Each day, 117 people in America die from car accidents, a total of 43,000 per year.  A majority of the deaths are murder, for the drivers are impaired; they are suicide bombers seeking random targets.

     Then there is the biochemical Terrorism.   Daily, 98 Americans die from flu, a total of 36,000 per year.   Another 13 a day die from food borne diseases, a total of 5,000 per year.   Many of these deaths could be avoided by people simply washing their hands or covering their mouths when they cough.   Their Complacency and the Complacency of a society to protect its children and parents, allows the Terrorism to spread wantonly.
         Then there are the 26,000 deaths per year from guns, a total of 71 a day.   The barrel of these weapons lash victims with deadly lead, many by accidents, many others by intention.    Guns account for 71 deaths a day.
         Adding these few forms of Domestic Death-Induced Terrorism up, 117 from cars, 98 from flu, 13 from food borne disease, 71 from guns--you end up at 299 daily deaths.
         Who is crying out for a reduction of these deaths?
         The answer is reflected by the headlines of local and national newspapers, and the dominate story on the local television news channel.    

         Rarely are the facts of Domestic Terrorism butted against those of International Terrorism.  A bomb or bullet that kills an American in Iraq has much more power than a drunk killing a car full of young kids on their way to a soccer game.
           The message today is simple.
           Terrorism starts at home.
           So does Vigilance.
           When we, as citizens, start to manage the Terrorism surrounding us in our daily lives--that includes the Fear, Intimidation and Complacency that attack us in our personal lives--we begin to cut the legs off the Beast of Terror.
           Calling upon the Principles of Vigilance each day--asking for Courage to overcome Fear, for Conviction to wrestle Intimidation and for Right Actions that benefit future generations to trump Complacency--gives us the power to change the impact of Terrorism on our lives.    It shifts us from being the "victims of the present" to being the "managers of our future."
              When we hear our political leaders, and would-be leaders, challenging one another over the "waste of American lives" or the "mismanagement" of American resources in the War on Terrorism, listen to hear in the critics diatribes the Truth About Terrorism.
                Are they simply berating what is, or trying to build a better world?   And, if they are trying to build a better world, what are they going to do about Domestic Terrorism as well as Foreign Terrorism?
                 But, if you are astute in your vision, you will know that no politician can achieve victory without the support of the people.   If Terrorism is going to be defeated, we, each of us, must take a stand against it.   We must vow to fight Terrorism with all our might and will, not just to protect ourselves, but to protect our Children's Children's Children.

        The greatest threats today to the safety of children are guns, cars and disease.  Then there are all forms of crippling emotional abuse that can warp and fracture the self-worth of a child, perhaps ultimately driving the child to drink while driving or to carry a weapon and use it in a moment of rage, or become careless about health and hygiene so that he or she infects others by his or her mere presence.      
       When you see statistics about how many people die each day, think of the number 299.   Two-hundred and ninety-nine each and every day.    In a ten-day period, that number equals all those who died on September 11, 2001.   And, there are 36 such ten-day periods each and every year.
           Ask yourself:  How can the Principles of Vigilance help reduce the 299 figure?  
           Since these acts of Terror are happening in your backyard, no one is more capable of you than finding ways to help bring down these acts of Terror occurring in your neighborhood daily.
           Fight Terrorism in your backyard.   Reduce the number 299 with your Vow of Vigilance.  Make the War on Terrorism a real battle, one that each of us can help win.

Mar 12--Define Terrorism--Is It The Absence Of Vigilance?

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