Replies

For the record, New Zealand went into shock when we woke to the news of the terrorist attacks in the States. Like many others, I did not believe the news at first, and suspected that it was some kind of sick prank. When the full extent of what had happened sunk in, the sheer tradgedy of it all hit me. Literally thousands of innocent people have died needlessly. I have been glued to CNN when not at work. I have cried countless times while watching news bulletins. Whilst I completely support the sentiments to wipe out terrorism (as does the rest of New Zealand, including our Prime Minister), I don't agree that the best thing to do is go in with guns blazing. For some nations, the attack on the USA is the kind of thing that they are facing as an every day reality. The people that would really suffer from a full scale military attack are the innocent people who are suffering already. I am proud to be a New Zealander. I would lose that pride in my country, as should any self respecting western country citizen, if we act emotively and cause the loss of more innocent lives. We would be no better than the terrorists themselves. By all means, take out the terrorists. Don't kill more innocent people who had the misfortune to be born into the wrong country. If compassion and respect for human life makes myself and all the other New Zealanders who feel this way 'communists' and 'greenies' then I am more than happy to be seen as both.