Interesting times ahead of us. We,re all gung-ho on fighting the war against the terrorists but the war is not going to be won. If we couldn,t take out the guerilla forces in Vietnam because of their mobility and "unconventional fighting methods, how do we expect to win a battle on a global front, where we don,t even know who the enemy really is nor where they live? Especially given that they live all over the place, including in our own neighborhoods, apparently.

I,ll tell you who is going to lose this war: American citizens. The "war on terrorism is going to further erode our rights, restrict us further and further, in a futile attempt to eliminate all risk from life. Our generals will fight the last war; they they have already instituted all kinds of policies designed to prevent people from hijacking planes with razor blades. But nobody anticipated that move. We were busy fighting the last battles in which hijackers used guns and bombs. While we were fighting those battles, the terrorists were developing new ways of war.

With all the newly imposed rules and airport restrictions, do you think perhaps the terrorists will find another loophole? Design another strategy? Of course they will. In the future, it,s unlikely that anyone will hijack a plane with razor blades and fly it into a NYC skyscraper. But the possible variations, and risks, are infinite.

Terrorists will go for the weak points in our system, and there will always be weak points. Nobody ever anticipated such a bold move as trashing the WTC, so no one prepared for it. And inevitably, we will now go overboard in trying to close every loophole. In so doing, life may become very restricted.

It,s a tricky situation because obviously you have to do something. And at this point in the game, the notion of "we have to give up some freedom in exchange for safety will be an easy sell. The reflexive urge toward safety is a natural human response. So Americans will want for something to be done. In that sense, the terrorists may end up winning. Life in the u.s. won,t be as free as it was. The attack has the power to shake the foundations of our philosophy, our way of life.

Nobody,s going to win this. We,ll wipe out some terrorist camps and we might even assassinate some high-profile leaders. But you can break through any wall if you have a small enough hammer. That hammer can be one guy with a vial of anthrax. How are you going to stop him? What laws will you impose sufficient to prevent him from committing this act? Will every man, woman and child on every street be searched from head to toe?

We need to recognize that life isn,t safe, and it never will be. And while we need to do things to protect ourselves, we have to think long and hard about just how much freedom we,re willing to give up in order to ATTEMPT to protect ourselves from occasional attacks.

What happened in NYC was horrific and I would never try to trivialize the incredible suffering of all those involved. But in the grand scheme of things, most people are doing well and carrying on. How much freedom are we willing to give up in order to protect the few, that ultimately can,t really be protected in these modern times when ONE person can inflict so much damage on so many?

We,ll put sky marshals on planes. And then one day, someone will disarm the sky marshal and hijack the plane and we,ll all cry "whose crazy idea was it to put an armed person on a plane? And we,ll go back to fighting the last battle, trying to insulate ourselves from what happened last time. And the terrorists will look at our new laws and rules and find yet another way around them.

You,ll notice that the world has grown increasingly restrictive, more military, more police, more laws, more rules designed to protect us. And yet, the terrorism and mayhem are on the INCREASE.

Life is risky. There are nasty people out there. You can build walls, but the other guy can build ladders. Eventually, the wall can get high enough to block out the sun. And still, the other guy can build a ladder just a bit higher.

Are we willing to risk blocking out the sun in an attempt to out-build the ladder-maker?

Mark M. Rostenko Editor The Sovereign Strategist www.sovereignstrategist.com

P.O. Box 129 Nederland, CO 80466