This is why it is so important that we stand with our allies worldwide to combat terrorism. That this battle doesn’t pit the largest and most powerful nation in the world against one of the poorest and most miserable. That we do not allow ourselves to stoop to the level of revenge, revenge which could never be commensurate to our loss because our loss is incalculable. This is not war in the traditional sense.

Our enemy is not a nation, but the poverty, ignorance and fear that exist in nations like Afghanistan, countries where terrorists are welcomed. Our best defense is to eliminate these conditions in countries like Afghanistan, so that the incentives for harboring terrorists like bin Laden are miniscule compared to the advantages of having America as a friend and ally. And we cannot be simply a military ally, exacting promises of peace at the point of a sword. In the 21st century we do not frighten our enemies more than they are already frightened, we cannot punish them more than they have already been punished. They know about war, famine and death—indeed, they know nothing else. So we must teach them compassion, peace and prosperity. Or we will have no lasting peace.

Meredith B. Osborn ’02 is a social studies concentrator in Leverett House. Her column appears regularly.