Excerpt

One Way Leads Down

SEPTEMBER 23, 2001The decisions we make and the actions we take in the next few days and weeks will determine if we continue to be the foremost nation in the world for a long, long time or if we start a downward slide that will send us floating away on the tides of history like dozens of other great powers which have been the center of the world and then have fallen----all too often as the result of arrogance, failure to understand the enemy or to adapt to change or to withstand the unintended consequences of misguided action.

I think the way we respond to the terrorist attack is really that critical. We can emerge stronger than ever or we can begin our national decline.

The way to begin the decline is to unleash massive force before we have presented to the world persuasive evidence of who aided and abetted the perpetrators and also offered good reason to believe that our retaliatory blow will reach the right people.

Hasty action almost certainly will not punish the guilty but will undercut our claim to the moral high ground, isolate us from our friends and solidify hatred for us throughout the rest of the world.

The way for us to continue as the beacon of light for the world is to be patient, welcome cooperation and support from our friends and recognize that terrorists are a minority even in those countries where terrorists have found refuge.