beckham, I CERTAINLY appreciate your above posting. My ladyfriend from/in Madrid and I have this same discussion everytime we talk since 9-11.

I've told her how upset this has made me feel and, while she feels bad about the horrible incident, she reminds me about the thousands of people who die EVERYDAY around the world from hunger, civil wars, street violence, and other equally horrible events. And, as she says (and I agree), do we here in the USA even know OR CARE if these things are happening around the world?? Answer: No. It's not our problem, we think. We're SO sheltered from the problems and goings on around the globe.

She says, "Is one senseless death more horrible than another? Is one life MORE important than another? Think WHY these attacks REALLY happened. Get to the ROOT of the problem and find out WHY some people in the rest of the world hate you (USA) so much. Think WHAT YOU (USA) are doing to them to make them so angry."

She makes A LOT of sense and has opened my eyes to new possible reasons as to why we were attacked in the first place. Maybe we should be trying to FIX the root of the problem instead of adding more deaths to the already HUGE number of those dead in NYC/D.C., and around the world. Don't get me wrong, I too think we should find and prosecute those responsible. But, just maybe(?) aren't WE, the USA partially responsible for WHY this happened in the first place?? Just consider the possibility before flaming me. Let's TRY to keep an open mind while all this is happening.

It's EASY to get angry, have tunnel vision, and just want to kill/retaliate/bomb, and remove the problem. But by doing this will we REALLY remove the problem or just put a Band-Aid on the pain for a temporary, superficial, immediate wound? Think about it.

Saludos, MadridMan