To the Editor:

We must not go to war.

We've been terribly attacked. Now, in our anger and pain, we must decide how to respond. Shall we strike out blindly with our military, eye for eye? Yet violence can only beget violence. For every innocent we kill, another village will become our sworn enemies. Revenge will solve nothing.

Are we as a nation strong enough to take the harder path? We must seek justice. The type we expect in our own land: find those responsible for these war crimes. Grant them a fair trial. Punish them if they are guilty.

Who is guilty? It's certainly not the Arab-Americans among us; they are our countrymen. It's not civilians in Afghanistan or any Muslim country; they are strangers to us, but innocent. It's not even the Taliban, as much as we distrust them.

Seek not vengeance. To do so is to become no better than terrorists ourselves. Please, join me. Pray for peace.

Michael Forster Rothbart
Madison, WI