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Timely Links: Politics and Protest has a poignant look back at 9/11.  Connect for Kids  has advice on coping with grief.  Kids.com has a nice Message Board dealing with the tragedy.  Dogs in the News has a touching article about Rescue Dogs.

If you are getting too stressed out from this ordeal, spend some down time reading a Poem from our Poets Page, visit an Online Art Museum , click on an Artist's Site from our Artists Page or stop by our Games Page & play a game..

Below are copies of some interesting and informative e-mails that I received the week after the Terrorist Attack.  The first 3 represent a slightly different view than we've been exposed to by the mainstream press. The First one is from Tamim Ansary, who is originally from Afghanistan and it deals with current conditions there.    It is being passed along by his former college roommate Toivo Kallas, a UW Oshkosh Professor.  The Second  is a Global Intelligence Report that addresses the problems inherent with forming alliances and the Third is a message of inspiration and resolve from syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald. The Fourth one is a show of support from people around the world that was forwarded to me by a friend from Australia. (I'm sure there are more than 65 names on it by now) The Fifth is a Tribute to America from Canadian T.V. Broadcaster Gordon Sinclair. This letter was written in 1973 but is relevant to today's situation.  Gordon Sinclair died in 1984. The Sixth is from "Author Unknown" and is an Open Letter to the Terrorists.   Send your best ones for inclusion by mailing me at linkoncenter@earthlink.net  

   Click HERE to read an interesting article by Michael Moore on Alternet.org, or visit his Site, Michael Moore.com.  To gain knowledge about the religion of Islam, visit The Encyclopedia of the Orient, click on the letter "I" in the index on the left side of the page and scroll down & click on Islam.  (This Site can be accessed from the reference table on our Educational Page.) Our Table on Ramadan (Kh4)  on the Holidays is another source of info on the Islamic Religion.

 Some other Sites of interest:

My Name is Osama bin Laden  ... an article from Esquire Magazine.

Revolutionary Assn of the Women of Afghanistan ... gives a glimpse of life under the rule of the Taliban.

Millat.com ... A Pakistani Site with a section on the Tragedy.

If you wish to donate to the relief effort go to either the Red Cross , Helping.org or The Salvation Army Sites. (Be careful about answering any E-Mail or Telephone  appeals as many are scams.  Sad but true!)

   I think it is our duty to become an informed and active citizenry.  We need the knowledge to help ourselves and our leaders make intelligent and prudent choices in dealing with this crisis.  I hope the messages below help to shed some light on the problems we face.  I want to also encourage you to visit our News Media Page and randomly sample some foreign news sources to gain a global perspective. Finally, although I do not agree completely with all the viewpoints included here, I think it is important that they be aired.

Jim Ravét,

 WebSlave, "The LinkOn Center"

First Letter:   

Dear Colleagues,

As we reflect upon the tragic events of this week and an appropriate
"response," I thought you might like to see this letter from my
college roommate, Tamim Ansary, who grew up in Afghanistan. I think
he offers an interesting perspective on Bin Laden, the Taliban, and
Afghanistan.

Toivo Kallas
Department of Biology & Microbiology

>Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 10:14:27 -0700
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>Yesterday I heard a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to
>the Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio allowed that this
>would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do
>with this atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral
>damage," and he asked, "What else can we do? What is your
>suggestion?" Minutes later I heard a TV pundit discussing whether
>we "have the belly to do what must be done."
>
>And I thought about these issues especially hard because I am from
>Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never
>lost track of what's been going on over there. So I want to share a
>few thoughts with anyone who will listen.
>
>I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is
>no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the
>atrocity in New York. I fervently wish to see those monsters
>punished.
>
>But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even
>the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant
>psychotics who captured Afghanistan in 1997 and have been holding
>the country in bondage ever since. Bin Laden is a political criminal
>with a master plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you
>think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of
>Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps." It's not
>only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity.
>They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would love for
>someone to eliminate the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of
>international thugs holed up in their country. I guarantee it.
>
>Some say, if that's the case, why don't the Afghans rise up and
>overthrow the Taliban themselves? The answer is, they're starved,
>exhausted, damaged, and incapacitated. A few years ago, the United
>Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in
>Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. Millions of
>Afghans are widows of the approximately two million men killed
>during the war with the Soviets. And the Taliban has been executing
>these women for being women and have buried some of their opponents
>alive in mass graves. The soil of Afghanistan is littered with land
>mines and almost all the farms have been destroyed . The Afghan
>people have tried to overthrow the Taliban. They haven't been able
>to.
>
>We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone
>Age. Trouble with that scheme is, it's already been done. The
>Soviets took care of it . Make the Afghans suffer? They're already
>suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles
>of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their
>infrastructure? There is no infrastructure. Cut them off from
>medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that.
>
>New bombs would only land in the rubble of earlier bombs. Would
>they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan,
>only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around.
>They'd slip away and hide. (They have already, I hear.) Maybe
>the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move
>too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul
>and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals
>who did this horrific thing. Actually it would be making common
>cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been
>raping all this time
>
>So what else can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and
>trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with
>ground troops. I think that when people speak of "having the belly
>to do what needs to be done" many of them are thinking in terms of
>having the belly to kill as many as needed. They are thinking about
>overcoming moral qualms about killing innocent people. But it's the
>belly to die not kill that's actually on the table. Americans will
>die in a land war to get Bin Laden. And not just because some
>Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin
>Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that, folks. To get any
>troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they
>let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first.
>Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going.
>The invasion approach is a flirtation with global war between Islam
>and the West.
>
>And that is Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants and
>why he did this thing. Read his speeches and statements. It's all
>right there. AT the moment, of course, "Islam" as such does not
>exist. There are Muslims and there are Muslim countries, but no such
>political entity as Islam. Bin Laden believes that if he can get a
>war started, he can constitute this entity and he'd be running it.
>He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem
>ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam
>and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the West wreaks a
>holocaust in Muslim lands, that's a billion people with nothing left
>to lose, even better from Bin Laden's point of view. He's probably
>wrong about winning, in the end the west would probably
>overcome--whatever that would mean in such a war; but the war would
>last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who
>has the belly for that? Bin Laden yes, but anyone else?
>
>I don't have a solution. But I do believe that suffering and poverty
>are the soil in which terrorism grows. Bin Laden and his cohorts
>want to bait us into creating more such soil, so they and their kind
>can flourish. We can't let him do that. That's my humble opinion.
>
>Tamim Ansary

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Second Letter:

___________________________________________________________________
>
>
> S T R A T F O R
>
> THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANY
>
> http://www.stratfor.com
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> 13 September 2001
>
> COMPLIMENTARY INTELLIGENCE REPORT - FULL TEXT
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> **NOTE**
>
> This is a complimentary full-text intelligence report, normally
> reserved for members only. For full-text reports every day and access
> to the full range of global intelligence, become a member today!
>
> http://www.stratfor.com/  (Check Out their Updates)
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> Global Intelligence Cooperation Comes With Risks
>
> 2355 GMT, 010913
>
> Summary
>
> The United States is now building coalition support for its
> response to Sept. 11 terror attacks. The chief benefit of
> cooperation with the international community will be
> intelligence. The ease with which the terrorists struck
> demonstrates a gaping hole in U.S. intelligence capabilities that
> allies may help to fill. A host of nations have jumped at the
> chance to build cooperation with the United States, but such
> collaboration comes with a price.
>
> Analysis
>
> U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sept. 13 that the
> United States would seek to build a coalition response to terror
> attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York City. A host of
> countries -- including China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and
> Saudi Arabia -- have offered to help the United States track down
> those responsible.
>
> The offers come when the United States has dire need for
> intelligence on the activities, operations, networks and funding
> of foreign terrorist organizations based in Africa, the Middle
> East and central and southeast Asia. But global counterterrorism
> cooperation among a group of nations could be a catch-22 for the
> United States. Other nations will seek to shape the United
> States' coming war against terrorism to suit their own interests.
>
> For Washington, this presents a strategic dilemma. Cooperation is
> necessary and invaluable, but the benefits must be weighed
> against the motivations of the many actors involved. This will
> hamper counterterrorism efforts. The United States is also
> inclined to act unilaterally. Dependence upon foreign sources for
> intelligence would make this impossible. But the United States
> cannot decline all foreign support. The radical Islamic groups
> most likely involved -- although organized into a loose network -
> - act in concert. Fighting them will require cooperation.
>
> Washington needs the intelligence capabilities of other nations.
> For example, India, Israel and Russia can provide significant
> human intelligence sources and foreign language skills. Both are
> vital to exposing the terrorist network involved in the recent
> attacks. Other nations can also provide intelligence on terrorism
> networks within their own countries, as well as the groups'
> sources of funding, likely sponsors, and intelligence-gathering
> and other capabilities.
>
> Many of these nations have a wealth of information on
> counterterrorism methodology and decades of experience fighting
> militant groups. These countries and others -- especially
> cooperative moderate Arab nations -- can help U.S. intelligence
> officials penetrate countries where spying is normally difficult.
>
> From a logistical and technical perspective, such cooperation
> could give Washington a competitive advantage for a war in which
> intelligence will be the most valuable weapon.
>
> But accepting such assistance comes with a price. The trap is
> simple: By pinpointing groups like Palestinians and Chechens,
> nations such as Israel and Russia could seek to manipulate the
> U.S. response in order to combat their own enemies.
>
> Israel immediately offered intelligence and military assistance
> to the United States following the Sept. 11 attacks. Israel is
> eager for the United States to identify a common enemy and to
> gain U.S. support in its own problem with Palestinian militants.
> Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in conversations with U.S. Secretary
> of State Colin Powell, compared Palestinian Authority leader
> Yasser Arafat to Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden -- the United
> States' prime suspect, Israeli radio reported Sept. 13.
>
> Collaborating with Israel could put the United States in a
> difficult position. Already, the attacks in the United States
> have granted Israel virtual carte blanche in dealing with
> suspected Palestinian militants. Sharing intelligence about
> insurgent groups in the Middle East with Washington will once
> again position Israel as an indispensable U.S. ally, ensuring
> continued support in its war against the Palestinians and
> possibly future conflicts with Arab neighbors.
>
> Many other nations could benefit in the same way. For example,
> India has already offered to help the United States if
> investigators link the Sept. 11 attacks to bin Laden and his
> operations in Pakistan, the Times of India reported Sept. 13.
> India would gladly use U.S. resources to stamp out radical
> Islamic groups in Pakistan as these groups are fighting in
> Kashmir, territory over which India and Pakistan have fought
> three wars.
>
> Similarly, Russia stands to gain from helping America. The
> Russian Federal Security Service has already identified the
> Pakistan-based radical Islamic group Jaamat e-Islami as the
> likely suspect in the suicide hijackings. The group has been tied
> to Chechen rebels and a spate of bombings in Russia in 1999,
> according to ITAR-TASS. Moscow has its own reasons, however, to
> finger a group connected to the Chechens and targeted by India:
> By condemning these groups, the United States will be forced to
> drop its own criticism of Russia's operations in Chechnya.
>
> Other countries can use a global intelligence coalition to their
> own benefit. Even if they are not directly threatened by Islamic
> fundamentalist groups, by sharing intelligence and collaborating
> with the United States in a global war against terrorism, they
> would have a plethora of opportunities to gather intelligence on
> potential rivals or stretch their own military reach.
>
> For instance, the head of the Japanese Defense Agency announced
> Sept. 11 that Japan would fully support the United States and act
> with it to deal with terrorist attacks, The Associated Press
> reported. If Japan can frame its military restructuring as an
> international counterterrorism effort, that would go a long way
> to help Tokyo avoid many problems associated with the legacy of
> its World War II militarism and with domestic and foreign
> opposition.
>
> European countries will seek to strengthen their own
> counterterrorism measures and benefit from American financial
> resources. Though Spain, for instance, is not likely to claim
> that Basque separatists were involved in the World Trade Center
> and Pentagon attacks, cooperation with the United States can
> advance Madrid's efforts to end its problem with separatist
> rebels.
>
> People the world over see the attack on the United States as a
> tragedy. But foreign governments will look to turn it into an
> opportunity to solve many of their own national security
> problems. The United States will accept help to a limited degree
> although ultimately it is more likely to implement policy on a
> unilateral basis. But with a united enemy, a disunited coalition
> puts the United States at a disadvantage not easily overcome.
>
> __________________________________________________________________
>
>
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< SEND THIS TO A FRIEND! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> Did you like this analysis? Then forward it to a friend!
>
> Got this from a friend? Get your own by becoming a member!
>
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>
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Third Letter

Leonard Pitts Jr. from Miami Herald (m)

   We'll go forward from this moment. It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering. You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.  Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.  Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.  Did  you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

    Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial,  social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and  maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

    Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.  IN PAIN  Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood  blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But there's a  gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.  I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future.

    In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this  moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined. THE STEEL IN US  You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood  by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.  As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish. So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that > >maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn.

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Fourth Letter

Hi All,