Tuesday, September 11, 2001, was a beautiful day in Brooklyn, NY where I live.
The sun was shining, there was a breeze and the few clouds in the sky were the wispy kind
that you look up at and imagine what animal they may look like.  I was out with my dog thinking
that I wanted to stay home or go to Prospect Park, anything but go into work on such a nice day.

I got on the subway to head to my office anyway (I suppose if I gave into every thought I had
of paying hooky I would not have a job), through I heard there was a fire at the World Trade Centers.
There is always a fire somewhere in New York City.

On the subway I heard more rumors of trouble, but it was not until the train pulled into Fulton St.
(a location extremely near the WTC) that I knew something was seriously wrong.  A blaring static-filled
announcement told us not to get off the train while they urged (more liked ordered) everybody on the
platform to get on the train.  We proceeded to the next station, Chambers St., there we were told
to get off the subway and get out of the station.

A subway worker was yelling, from a platform across the tracks, at a group of people who didn't
speak English and who only looked at her dazed.  Myself and others gestured to them to climb the
stairs and soon we were a group of confused people emerging from underground to a scene
we never could have imagined.

At Chambers St. there is a clear view of the World Trade Center, and as we came up from the ground
we joined a larger crowd who was standing in the middle of the street staring up at the burning buildings.
Quickly the news of what had happened spread; first one plane then the other.
People were taking pictures and filming this sight, the mood was one of utter, absolute disbelief.

Then, quickly, too quickly to perceive what was happening, there was a loud noise.  An explosion?
Nobody could tell.  Then the a tower (the second hit) began to come down.  Now, people were
screaming and running away.  We didn't know which way the building was coming down and if it
was falling toward the north we were close enough to be caught in the smoke and debris.
As we realized that the building had fallen in on itself running turned into hurried, determined walking as
everybody on the street proceeded north (or uptown in the parlance of New York) we were looking back
only to see smoke and dust and, incredibly, horrifically, one trade tower.  The air around us was smoky, dusty.
My throat began to burn and scratch.  When I arrived at my office (I couldn't go back into Brooklyn at
thattime and by this time I was sorry I ever left) I ran to the phone and called loved ones and  friends.

It is hard to recall when confusion and incredulity turned into at least some understanding of what happened.
Then the thought:  all of those innocent people who were, let's not mince words here, dead.  They were simply
doing what I was doing, what must of us do five days a week, going to work in the morning. .

Later I would watch the other tower cellapse on television. I would also see pictures of the Pentagon.
While the physical destruction is a hard thing to get your mind around -- these were not only tall buildings,
these were huge, thick buildings -- the number of human lives extinguished is incomprehensible.
Then if you dare to think of all the living daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and sons
that will be affected by this

-- Well, is your mind large enough and your soul strong enough?
Is there a word that describes this type of destruction?
What do we have to offer the victims of this type of inhumanity?
It will take time.

As a write this, the second day after, presumably safe in my Brooklyn apartment, my place of employment
shut down, I want to do something, but I've been turned away for giving blood and basically trapped in my
neighborhood. The air is still hazy with smoke and dust, sirens are still constantly going off, where the WTC
use to tower over me there is only a white cloud of smoke.  The street have a foreboding quite about them.
And, my dog is still spooked.  She hasn't touched her food or toys, is reluctant to go outside and spends
much of her day in the bathroom, a cave-like place for a dog I suppose.  She intermittently checks on my
safety before running back into the bathroom.  She knows something's not right.

From this personal experience my thoughts turned to our leaders, the rescue workers and the next steps
we as a country should take.  These things areeasier to understand for none of them has the element of
cold, calculated human cruelty.  And so I'm offering my thoughts, which at the present is all I can do.

1.)  As much as we would like to compare this event to another event in history (i.e., Pearl Harbor)
something of this scale has never happened before.  I believe it will help us to deal with this as a nation when
we come to grasp with the significantly new (and horrific) precedent that this sets.

2.)  This is not about foreign policy, whether in the Middle East or anywhere else.  This is about hatred.
Again, I believe that it will help us come to grips with this as a country if we don't start talking about
becoming more isolationist, or more or less supportive of Israel, or if Clinton would have done this or
Bush Sr. would have done that then this would not have happened.  By all means, U.S. foreign should
be subjected to a healthy debate and an unflinching scrutiny.   However, this should not be because of
any act of terror.  Let's be clear, those responsible sought to destroy not to change.

3.)  This brings me to my third point and I believe this may be the crux of what prevented us from
addressing these problems more forcefully in the past.  These terrorist are criminals, mass murders.
And while we may fight them with the criminal justice system we must do more, we must fight them
with the weapons of war.  However, when I say this I do not mean we must start bombing countries
or using are military force in any indiscriminant way.

These acts are both crimes and they are acts of war.  If we think in this way we will open more options
and have greater ability to respond with the appropriate measure.  It appears that our leaders are
addressing this matter in this way already.  However, what we don't have open to us are normal diplomatic
means by which we normally deal with disputes among countries, because -- as I have said in point three --
this is about hate, destruction, fanaticism.  In point four let's address the criminal nature of these acts
and in point five let's address the war-like nature of these acts.

4.)  The criminal nature of these acts make them crimes not only against Washington and New York or
even against the United States, but crimes against humanity, crimes against civilization.  Those responsible are
international criminals in the truest sense of the word.  The entire international community must be quick to
condemn these actions, all terrorist and any country that harbors or gives any resources to any terrorist.
The intended murder of innocent civilians is not something that is ever condoned or allowed (not that it
hasn't happed) even in times of war.  That is why in my second point I am so insistent that this is spoken
of for what it is, not an act of politics but one of hatred and inhumanity. So in every country in the world
terrorist must be treated like the mass murders they are, their assets must be frozen,, sized by the state and
distributed amongst their victims.  Their freedom must be taken away, they must be extradited to jails in
the United States or to whatever country they have committed their crimes in, with all diligence and haste.

5.)  The fifth point deals with the war-like nature of these acts.  If there is a group of countries that harbor
or in any way give any resources to terrorist, be it military information or food and water, they must become
isolated immediately from the international community.  They must be prepared to surrender their sovereignty
when they are accessories to  crimes against humanity.  Any country, whether in Western or Eastern Europe or
in the Middle East that trades, gives these countries food or medical supplies for either financial or humanitarian
reason must be isolated in the same fashion.  Also, military options should not be ruled out against these countries.

Now, I realize that innocent people would be hurt by these measures. However, if something is not done innocent
people will again die in terrorist attacks.  I do not relish this, nor am I seeking to be vengeful. Nor is the military
option one of conquest or interference in a countries internal affairs.  It is the enforcement of what should be an
iron-clad international code of conduct that  protects the innocent civilians of any country from terrorist attack.

6.)  The sixth point may be the most important of all.  Through this, whatever unpleasant yet necessary action
we may have to take, we must not give way to hatred, or suspension of the rights of innocent citizens of Arab
(or any other) origin.  In short, we must not forget we are Americans. I once heard a story about a Jewish man who,
after surviving the holocaust and WWII, went to his Rabbi and said that there was no way he could believe in God,
Judaism or humanity after what he had been through.  The Rabbi was said to reply, "Then you have done to yourself
what Hitler and all his might could not do.  You have destroyed your faith."
We must not lose faith, nor the believe that in this we will prevail.

Though we may have to make sacrifices, we must not sacrifice our values to the alter of vengeance and expedience.
As President Kennedy so eloquently put it, "We must not act out of fear, but we must not fear to act."
We may use are military might, but we must not become a militaristic,  regimented society.  We must remember
why we are fighting in the first place.

I hope these thoughts are helpful to somebody.  And may God bless and protect you, our country, and all the
innocent people of this planet wherever they may live, who really only want to live their life, love their family
and friends without the threat of the type of terror that has been visited on the United States at this time.

Stephen Sacco