As reprehensible as this violence was to me, it didn't occur in isolation, for no discernible reasons. Wisdom demands we ask some hard questions: Why do so many people around the world resent the U.S.? Why do some loathe this nation so fervently they're willing to go to their deaths to strike at it?

Yes, these were acts of war, but this war began years ago and the U.S. has not been an innocent bystander. These are simply the first attacks with massive casualties here.

The U.S. has long used its military and economic power to intimidate other peoples. Too often, Americans have proceeded under the assumption that our way of life is the only way people should live, and so we're justified in using whatever means necessary to bend other peoples to our will, our global vision.

Our government has propped up oppressive dictators with money and weapons, worked to destabilize defiant governments, fueled civil wars, made war in support of corporate colonialism, and continues to do its best to coerce the rest of the world into accepting an economic globalization that favors Western transnational corporations at the expense of local cultures everywhere. The evidence is clear for those who care to pay attention.

Moreover, just as with Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein, and too many others, the U.S. government is partially responsible for the power and influence of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. True, the CIA assures us it didn't train bin Laden personally, but I think we have just cause to look on this claim with skepticism given the government's history of reliance on "plausible deniability" and "disinformation." Even if bin Laden didn't receive a second of training, a penny of aid, or a single bullet from the CIA, though, the agency did funnel arms and provide training to the forces who opposed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the mujaheddin. Among the mujaheddin were many foreign fighters who also joined the al-Qaeda network. Our leaders apparently thought it was wise to train these folks in the tactics of terrorism and guerilla war as long as they used their training against our enemies of the moment. Of course, neither this training nor the weapons the U.S. provided conveniently evaporated after the Soviet army withdrew. I wonder: What future "enemy" is the U.S. training and arming right now?

If we don't do our best to understand why these attacks happened, we'll do the worst possible disservice to the victims of this violence: We'll ensure that many more will suffer in the future as they have suffered. We must avoid creating more terrorists than we destroy.

No, I'm not saying we "deserved" what happened, but our nation does bear considerable responsibility for creating a world in which such things do happen. Let us ask ourselves what we can do to create a different kind of world.

It seems to me that the first, essential step is to avoid acting hastily out of rage. I suggest to you that restraint, self-reflection, and openness are the greatest displays of strength we could possibly make.

I'm not a pacifist. If I become convinced that focused violence can be used effectively to make the world safer from such attacks, I'll support its use, but I'm not now convinced. I also fear our "leaders" aren't even considering focused violence.

In the meantime, let us demand our government and corporations stop the intimidation and exploitation that give people just cause to hate the U.S. Nothing we gain from all this bullying is worth the many costs.