Let me first start by introducing myself. Ingame, I play a monk by the name of Fankyu and a paladin by the name of Verchiel on the Tarew Marr server. I've been playing for quite some time, but as I am a casual player, my characters still have not even broken the 20th level. In real life, my name is Kenneth Pun, a Chinese Canadian in my graduating year for an Honours Bachelor degree in English literature. I'm introducting myself so that you can understand a few things about where I'm coming from. Canada has historically been greatly influenced by American culture, so I can understand the American perspective while at the same time, by living in a different country I can maintain an objective view (or so I hope). My Chinese heritage allows me to have an intriguing balance between western and eastern cultures, therefore I've learned to accept that differing cultures have their reasons for how they came to be. In essense, I'm saying that my background provides what I believe to be a way of looking at this tragedy that only a few may have considered. I'm not saying I'm right, but at the same time, I'd hope that you read what I have to say, and at the very least think about it first.

There has been a great many terms thrown around by the media and echoed by many posts here and other forums that I have read. "Terrorism" being the first, "act of war" another, "retaliation", "justice", and "revenge". There are also a great many parallels made to other historical events, such as the Pearl Harbour incident, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I want to start out by stating clearly that there is an incredible difference between an act of terrorism and an act of war. The WTC tragedy is an act of terrorism, no one can deny that. But at the same time, it is not an act of war. It is an act that could very well instigate a war, and in many minds it should, but in itself is not an act of war.

An act of war requires that one party officially declaring war over another party. In the case of the Pearl Harbour incident, the Japanese did in fact declare war on America moments before the bombing, making it difficult for the American military to defend against an attack. This was not the case in the WTC tragedy, as no one party has declared war on America. Another part of an act of war is in how the act is carried out. Historically speaking, wars are fought by the military. The targets may not necessarily be military, but those attacking most certainly are. They use military issue weapons, and military designed vehicles. According to reports, the terrorists used only knives and threatened they had a bomb on the plane. No military grade weapons or vehicles were used in this attack.

Based on these two examples, the WTC tragedy cannot be considered an act of war in itself. I must point out however that the tragedy can be used to instigate a war, but that is for the American Congress to decide once those responsible are found, and is something I will deal with later. Having shown why I feel that the tragedy is not an act of war, I therefore believe that comparing the WTC tragedy to events such as Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima and Nagasaki as incorrect. Both the latter two incidents were in fact acts of war, one starting it (as far as the Americans are concerned) and one ending it. A better comparison would be those cut from the same cloth. Unfortunately I don't have any such comparisons available to me at this time, and will require some research.

I have just proposed that the WTC tragedy is not an act of war, and as such will continue by proposing that using war and war-like methods to retaliate would be wrong. Bombing, nuking, declaring war on, and attacking those responsible for the tragedy, while may sound gratifying would put too much at risk and most likely bring about consequences we as a world may not be prepared for. First of all, though some have written and commented to the contrary, there are indeed innocent people to consider. Yes, there were people celebrating the tragedy, but please remember these are people whose only picture of western civilization they have, is one that depicts us as capitalist, interering devils. This narrow view of us comes from a lack of communication on many parts between the two parties and more importantly on forced sense of ignorance certain dictators have put on the people.

To them, the celebration is because they believe a devil has been hurt. No different than if we were to celebrate if Saddam Hussein were to trip over some steps and break his neck. We have our own devils, and they have theirs. Granted it must feel frustrating that someone out there feels that we are devils, but rather than being angry at them for their ignorance, we should try to find ways to circumvent their view of us and change it for the better. As for those that are directly responsible for the WTC tragedy, they should be deal witht as Americans would any other terrorist faction that have been caught before. As I mentioned before, my knowledge of terrorism in history is not very detailed, and once I do the research I could probably make a better proposal of what should be done.

Once again, I do not claim to have the right answer to this tragedy, only that I have a perspective that I would like all of you to think about for a moment. If you disagree with me, I'd be more than happy to take the time to debate the topic with you, so that perhaps we can all get a better understanding of the subject. I feel for those who suffered directly and indirectly from this tragedy, and my heart goes out to all of them. I hope that this incident will come to a conclusion soon, so that we all rest easier around the world.