"Let us unite to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (One Love!), So when Man comes there will be no, no ruin (One Song!). Have mercy on those whose possibilities grow within; There is no hiding place from the Father of Creation" Lyrics to the song "One Love" by Bob Marley When it comes to foreign policy and America's role in the world, we are rarely a true democracy; we rarely have any idea what is going on. This veil of ignorance has contributed in no small part to the endless series of frightening events. If we want to prevent them from happening again, we as citizens must claim some authority over our role in the world, and not simply support every “war on terrorism.” Simple justice and morality require that we take into account the acts of terrorists and those with whom they committed evil and irredeemable deeds, and that we tirelessly seek justice for their victims. But our revulsion and determination to bring wrongdoers to justice do not require us to abandon the search for the deeper causes of such actions. Pure pragmatism, not to mention the desire for self-preservation, demands that we do everything we can to prevent the recurrence of these events in the future. Such a pragmatic imperative cannot be adequately met simply by strengthening our intelligence capabilities or responding with military or economic measures. violence. If widespread hatred of the United States is the breeding ground for acts like 9/11, we would do well to reflect on the roots of that hatred. Understanding it does not require that we ratify it, or that we access its fantastic and coercive manifestations, or that we refrain from judging despicable acts. This requires, however, that we pause to examine how US policies and attitudes have helped counter resentment from the West and from the United States in particular. Nor is there any guarantee that militant hostility toward the United States can be easily modified in those regimes for which such hostility constitutes an essential, if pathetic, driving force. Of critical importance, however, is that we as citizens do not abdicate our responsibility to understand and exercise meaningful influence over the uses to which our sovereign power is put. President Bush assured us that "we will lead the world to victory, to victory," but over whom and at whose expense? No American should feel satisfied supporting a “war” of indeterminate duration and unarticulated objectives. Giving unchecked power to our government to wage a “war on terrorism,” with no guarantee that we will not spread the same misery and generate the same anger that lies behind recent events, is unacceptable.