Like everyone else, I too am searching for a better understanding of last weeks events. However, I believe that it is not a religious issue. Those who profess that it is (I primarily mean politicians and media) do so to avoid taking a long, hard look at the real issues involved. It is the quick and easy answer to blame it on religious differences.

I personally believe that the problem is deeply rooted in U.S. Foreign Policy. Over the past 30 years we have managed to create some enemies within the world that they have grown to dislike our government, culture and way of life so much that they planned and executed the events we all watched with horror last Tuesday. In general, we will take the side of the non-Muslim nations whenever there is a dispute between them and their neighbors (Palastine vs. Israel, India vs. Pakistan), unless of course oil is involved. We also have tried to "plant" future political leaders within places like Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq by funding their revolutions and providing them with CIA training. When they then come to power we put them on the most wanted list.

What gave me hope by the end of last week was to see how these actions truly galvanized the world community against terrorism. All of the Arab, European and Asian countries condemned the attacks, and signed on to find those who were involved. For the first time we truly see that terrorism is independent of nation or religion, and must be put to an end. Now I only hope that the leaders in our world community will arrive at a solution which will show that we will not tolerate such acts again.