WAR AGAINST TERROR WILL FAIL UNLESS PROBLEMS ARE DEFINED

Editor, the Tribune: Justice is automatically rendered in a suicidal
mission. What is the nature of the causal rationale of destroying the twin
towers? We lack a high degree of intelligence to win a war against
terrorists. Our problem is not well-defined. We are waging a war against
illegal drugs. We are losing this war because we do not attack the cause of
the problem. We must come to grips with the causes. Playing games with the
symptoms of the problem will not win the war.

Congress spends considerable amounts of critical time and resources on
solving problems. Effective solutions are rarely experienced because causes
of the problems are not well-defined. "War on terrorists" is an open and
emotional concept.

We need to focus on causes of the twin towers destructive episode. I would
suggest religion, turf and economic forces at work on a grand scale because
of envious, selfish modes of human behavior. We need to reconsider our oil
and religious interests in the world. We should be careful of our own
conduct on the world stage. The phrase "national interests" is used to
squelch our inquiry into terrorists' motivations.

Surgical bombing of Afghanistan is not a solution. It is a physiological
reaction of revenge to a symptom of a problem.

Richard Marushak