Syria and Iran deserve to be called on the carpet many times over for their support of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and their declarations of support of genocide by destroying the State of Israel. Israeli intelligence, and even our own intelligence, has proven that both countries are no friend of the Jewish state. The United Nations has long condemned Israel for overstepping its bounds without taking action every time someone in the Middle East wanted to destroy Israel. That’s a call to genocide, and it’s about time that the United States, the U.N., and Europe step up to the plate and shoot it down where it stands, if by no other means than even sanctions.

Where most people fail to realize the danger in President Bush’s policy is his penchant for invasion, destruction of a nation, and stealing its resources, not in deposing the despots and supporting the true growth of freedom from within the countries he invades. Mr. Bush is very good at public relations, but he is terrible at being a Commander of civilian, as well as military, forces.

If you look at the facts, the Holocaust was only sixty years ago. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 came on the heels of scores of pogroms in Europe and the realization that Europeans would always want Jews out eventually, and so would every other place Jews have lived. You could make the argument that groups of people are killed off over spaces of time, but that debate falls flat on its face when you realize that not every human being wants to solve her problems with a gun or a bomb. In fact, most of us don’t. The only people hell-bent on seeing war solve our problems are the people who cannot fathom doing anything else.

This brings me to my final point: going “green” with our oil industry is not enough to stop terror. We must say to all companies associated with war-mongering that they are needed more in areas that will promote healthy living around the world without going to war over resources. There are plenty of industries out there that could use more help: wind, water, and solar energy are but a few examples. Groups like Ashoka International (www.ashoka.org/ ) promote social entrepreneurship around the world, and it works.

If we are to truly live in a terror-free world, then we must look at terror for what it is, and honor our solutions for what they are. From abuse to revenge to “ownership” to war, terror in all its forms is just plain wrong. Avoiding the answers is downright absurd. It’s time to stare the truth in the face and recognize that it is the only thing that will set us free.