BusinessWeek began to receive mail about last week's attacks on the U.S. as editors were preparing the Special Report "Terror in America" for its Sept. 12 press deadline.
Life As Usual Is the Best Revenge
I empathize with those who have not heard from, or who have lost, friends and family in Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, or aboard those ill-fated planes. I, too, grieve for friends who are missing, and I also hope to receive news of a miracle. But I will not let those feelings deter me from what I need to do, and that is to get on with the business of living my life. For that is what we, as a people, must do.
We cannot let the acts of a cowardly group achieve what is perhaps their main objective--to change the way we live. We must resume our lives, as difficult as that may be. We must go to work, share a smile with our friends, take our kids to Little League, and donate time to those in need. We epitomize what is good about mankind.
Adam B. Dolder
New York
It is ironic that the media are reporting surges in citizens and communities bonding and supporting each other as a result of this tragedy; shouldn't that have been the norm? Perhaps we were too busy working more hours than any other industrial country or tracking our financial portfolios to take notice of our families and fellow citizens!
Mark C. Malham
Port St. Lucie, Fla.
All these fears of consumer confidence falling compare this week's domestic terrorist acts with previous events such as Desert Storm and Pearl Harbor (a largely military target) which posed a very different threat to the average American. A bit of the wartime "Buy American" patriotism may pop out but also a bit of the life-is-so-precious-and-short feeling individuals feel after a brush with disaster. If life can be this short and random, won't many people go ahead and buy their kid that cool toy, without waiting for the December holidays? Does saving the maximum for your retirement account (or even getting out of debt) seem as important to the average American post-9/11/01?
Susan Lyon
San Diego
Getting out ahead of the Smoke
I would like to correct your statement in "The view from ground zero" ("Terror in America," Sept. 24) that I and other Lehman Brothers Inc. employees had to evacuate "engulfed in smoke." The fire marshals on each floor of the Lehman World Headquarters at the World Financial Center made nearly instant decisions to evacuate the American Express Tower after the first aircraft struck the north tower. The evacuation was orderly, efficient, and smoke-free. My department was already safely outside the building even before the United flight hit the south tower.
Those of us who walked safely away from "ground zero" are acutely aware of the pain of those who were not so fortunate in lower Manhattan, in Washington, and in Pennsylvania, and ever thankful for all those whose prompt action saved lives.
Joseph F. Campbell Jr.
Ridgewood, N.J.
The Need to Address Human Suffering in the Mideast
"What must be done" (Editorials, Sept. 24) chastises "moderate Arab governments" for "allowing extremists to inflame anti-Israel and anti-American passions." Could it be that the Israelis and Americans, in supporting Israeli policy, ignore the losses and longtime suffering of the Palestinians? And in Iraq, at what price and suffering to Iraq's civilians does our policy toward Saddam Hussein cost? Could not Arabs in general feel that we are insensitive to the plight of all these Muslim peoples?
If we want the cooperation of moderate Arab nations and the full support of our allies in dealing with international terrorism we need to consider the Arab peoples' needs for safety, adequate food, health care, and dignity in their countries and homes. Then, maybe, the fanatic terrorist attacks won't draw any sympathy from anyone.
Alison Hopper
Williamsport, Pa.
Pearl Harbor and Terrorism Should Not Be Equated
I sincerely express my condolences to the victims, their families, and people in the States. I am Japanese and I feel as if you said the attack on Pearl Harbor and the terrorism were equivalent. I believe the circumstances of the two events are totally different. I would like to ask you to refrain from using the event in 1941 to describe the terrorism. Please understand how the Japanese feel about your article.
Hidekazu Mishima
Santa Clara, Calif.
The Star Wars Folly Is Now Revealed
Tuesday's devastating terrorist events may have finally proved that the proposed national strategic defense initiative is largely irrelevant to meeting America's security needs. While we focus on "Star Wars" to protect us, a low-budget perspective was able to envision jets and lax airport security as a one-way ticket to carnage. No high-tech gadgetry has ever matched the prowess of human imagination, however dark its motives. Isn't it time we looked closer to earth for solutions to terrorism?
Douglas Reed
Morrisville, N.C.
A Skyline Altered Forever
I participated in a memorial service today: My company lost two employees in the hijacking and crash of American Airlines Flight 11. After the service, I returned to my desk to catch up on some back reading. I turned to a story several weeks old ("Up, up, and away," BusinessWeek Lifestyle, Sept. 3)--and gasped when I saw the beautiful photograph of the World Trade Center taken from an airplane. How long will it be before any of us can look at panoramic views of Manhattan without feeling heartsick?
Marjie O'Connor
Des Plaines, Ill.
Did the FAA Hit the Panic Button Too Soon?
The terrorists did not and cannot cripple this nation. But the Federal Aviation Administration paralyzed it when it ordered the grounding of all flights throughout this country ("Keeping the barbarians away from the gate," Sept. 24). To achieve their true ends, terrorists rely on fear. They count on us to react in ways that compromise or cripple our own nation's functioning, repeal the civil liberties so highly paid for by our predecessors, and degrade the standard of living that they so despise.
Scott Huntsman
Dublin, Calif.
Bailing Out the Airlines
The proposed federal bailout of the airline industry should be conditioned on carriers' reducing their presence at any one airport to less than 50% ("How much heavier can the baggage get?" Special Report, Sept. 24). This means big carriers would have to sell off gates, facilities, and other assets to rivals so that no one company controlled the majority of an airport's traffic.
Last week's attack was as much on our system of capitalism as it was on our government, people, and property. Any bailout of private business, which moves us further away from capitalism, must have a redeeming feature that ultimately makes markets work better.
Kenneth H. Thomas
Philadelphia
"Experts" Don't Have All the Answers
Government needs to listen to the thinking consumer who can help select sensible answers, rather than so-called experts who think like tank commanders. The current increased security precautions won't decrease a terrorist threat--but will take away the freedoms we enjoy and will destroy the [airline] industry. Instead of parking a car bomb at the airport, terrorists could choose a parking garage in some other vulnerable spot.
Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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