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Monday- April 1, 2002—Ground Zero Plus 202

The Greatest Fool Of All--Terrorism
by
Cliff McKenzie
Editor, New York City Combat Correspondent News 
 

        GROUND ZERO, New York City, April 1--It is April Fools Day--a day in which fools rule.
        A fool is someone blind to reality.  And the greatest fool of all is Terrorism.
        A fool is someone who thinks he or she can be protected from Terrorism by the police, or government, or the military.  Terrorism counts on this foolishness.
        A true fool is someone who refuses to take responsibility for his or her safety and security, and that of his or her family and loved ones.
        It is someone who has forgotten to remember what September 11 was truly all about.
        America was attacked that day, despite the police, the firemen, the government or the military.  It was the first major attack on American soil since 1812.
       Only in hindsight do F-14 fighter jets prowl the skies about New York City.  Only in hindsight has our airport security been tightened, and our military expended millions of dollars of bombs and bullets daily to eradicate the "enemy" in a far-off land.
        Foresight was the problem on September 10th. It is the same problem today.   Only a fool would think Terrorism can be frightened away by bomb and bullets--they only feed its ravenous hunger-- for Terrorism isn't something that can be "killed," it can only be constrained, exposed, spotlighted.
       If Terrorism grows Fear, Intimidation and Complacency in the heart of its victims, then it's not about "killing" the body of Terrorism that will end its rule.   It is about "killing" the effects of Terrorism--eradicating the Fear and Intimidation and Complacency it creates in its aftermath.
       The bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon were symbols not facts of Terrorism.   They issued a declaration to the citizens of the United States that no longer was it safe from the insidious venom of any group of people who wish to strike fear into the hearts of a nation, any time and any place such a group wishes.
       Its targets are the weak and helpless, the indifferent, the complacent.   And it is patient.  It waits quietly for Complacency to slip back in, for memories to fade
       Terrorism is an Emotional and Physical enemy. 
       It gnaws at the foundations of one's security within, always lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting, the least protected.
       It throws chemicals designed to poison thousands of innocent people in subways in Tokyo, it walks into Seder dinners at Passover with bombs strapped to its body, it sends thousands of bodies floating down a bloody river in Rwanda, it makes Chinese parents kill newborn daughters who exceed the government's quota.
       It turns friendly, kind priests into child molesters.   It makes a mother of five chase down and drown each of her children  in a bathtub.   It drives two teenage boys to walk into a high school cafeteria and shoot anything that moves and then kill themselves.
       In lesser degrees, it makes a parent tell a child:  "I never wanted you!  You're ugly!  I wished you were dead!"
       In still lesser degrees, it makes a parent too busy to find out what's going on in his or her child's mind, what the child's dreams are, what his or her fears are all about.
       In still lesser degrees it makes a person feel like they are a "loser," a "victim of circumstances," born into a state of dependence because of race, color, creed, or a state of "less than worthy" based on inner guilt or shame imposed upon them by some outside force or circumstance that stunts their emotional and spiritual growth as a worthy human being.
       In still lesser quantities it makes one shy from trying out new things, and forces one into a rut of complacency where they feel they cannot escape their "lot," and walks through life with the yoke of drudgery on their shoulders.
       Only a fool would think Terrorism is about bombs and bullets and Osama bin Laden or Yasir Arafat.
        Terrorism is a state of human condition, one that sinks its fangs into our souls and unless we cut those fangs loose at their roots, pierces our being with its venom so we are paralyzed to think we can control and manage our Emotional safety and our Physical security.
        But fools can be resurrected into men and women of wisdom.
        Terrorism can be thwarted.
        Its roots can be jerked out.
        The Pledge of Vigilance is the first step in this direction.
        When one becomes a "Registered Citizen of Vigilance," or "Registered Parent Of Vigilance," or "Registered Relative Of Vigilance," or "Registered Love One Of Vigilance," the vow taken casts light on the darkness of Terrorism.
        By identifying the source of Terrorism--Fear, Intimidation and Complacency--one brings Vigilance out of the dark shadows into the foreground.    Vigilance's elements--Courage, Conviction and Action now shove Terrorism to the side.
        Restating one's Vows of Vigilance daily, turns hindsight into foresight.
        No longer does one rely on others to stand guard over the protection of his or her loved one's emotional or physical security.  No longer does a Sentinel of Vigilance wonder who is doing what to protect them from harm--because they have taken up the Shields of Vigilance, and recognize that the security of those they care about most lies with them.
        Only a fool would think anything less.
        Even on April Fools Day, 2002
     

 Go To Mar. 31--Happy Easter Sentinels Of Vigilance