Lauren Bialystok: Wake up America-times have changed

It was no secret.

We knew that America was at the top of their hit list.

We knew that terrorists were prepared to take their own lives if they could take America down with them. What we didn't know -- or refused to believe -- was that someday they'd be successful.

The tragedy that unfolded before our eyes last week is shattering on two levels.ÿIt is shattering first because, in America, we are unaccustomed to the routine of death, insecurity and wanton destruction that afflicts millions of people with fierce regularity. (You think 5,000 deaths is significant? Ask someone in the Congo.)

More importantly, though, it is shattering because it threw a wrench into everything Americans thought they knew about the world.

Most of the response we've heard this week has been the same old lines.ÿWe've heard that America will not tolerate terrorism.ÿWe've been told that the perpetrators of this act will be put in their place.ÿThat the forces of democracy and free market capitalism will triumph, no matter how long it takes.ÿRelax, everyone.ÿWe're still the best.

But this chorus of reassurance, which was chanted by so many American leaders, is dangerously misguided.

Last week thousands of innocent Americans were killed in an unanticipated, unprovoked terrorist attack.ÿTo a nation that considered itself essentially invincible, this is anything but quotidian.ÿAmerica must not respond with the standard rhetoric about democracy and the archaic rules of political engagement.

The rules just changed.

In the new rules, there's no room for the sanctimonious mantra that democracies do not negotiate with terrorists.ÿTerrorism may well replace the tactics of pre-nuclear age conventional international war.ÿ Even target bombings, such as the ones leveled against Iraq in recent years, have proved antiquated.

If America stubbornly adheres to old, 20th century political doctrines in the 21st century, its military strength will be next to useless.

Staunch patriots and conservatives will no doubt reject new, more flexible policies. They will argue that resisting an immediate counterstrike will only increase their vulnerability and give the green light to other terrorists.ÿSo the leading solution they propose seems to be unmitigated retaliation and a re-affirmation of those precious American "values."

Unfortunately, large-scale antagonism toward Afghanistan and its allies will accomplish precisely what Osama bin Laden is trying to do:ÿdivide the world into Islam and the West and set the stage for a bipolar conflict of global proportions.

The violent vengeance strategy therefore misses the point: Bombing Kabul will kill thousands of innocent Afghanis and leave bin Laden unscathed.ÿ Afghanistan is a country already ravaged beyond repair, first by the Soviets starting in 1979, then by the non-governmental Taliban organization since their appearance in 1997.

The Taliban is an ultra-radical, highly secured fundamentalist group whose mandate flouts Islamic teaching, as well as the civilians it rules. Bombing Afghanistan will only serve to alienate non-violent Muslims and provoke further terrorism by their militant counterparts the world over.

It will push peace even farther out of reach.

What is needed therefore is not action; it's consciousness.ÿ For too long, America has pursued self-righteous capitalist crusades, neglecting its role as a member of a diverse global community.ÿWorse still, it's believed that this is the right thing to do.

The only chance we have at preventing World War III is to create a more conscientious, responsible and collaborative America.

It's time to relinquish the notion that the United States will be a superpower forever -- that although other empires have fallen before, darn it, the "greatest democracy on earth" will not fall.

It's time to acknowledge the destructive effects of American cultural and economic imperialism.

Effectively, it's time for America to re-examine everything it thought it knew about the world. This is the true test of America's strength.

Those who would claim that America in some way "deserved" this tragedy, or that we brought it upon ourselves, are spreading despicable anti-humanitarian filth (Jerry Falwell has exemplified this, pointing fingers at feminists and queers who "turned God against us").

Yet those who would ignore the underlying causes of last Tuesday's attack and get on with their lives are also frighteningly out of touch:

"Sing the national anthem and send in the reserves, and we'll be no better off than before."

Good morning, America.ÿToday will be different from yesterday.

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