THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW site quotes David McReynolds of the War Resisters League:

“We urge Congress and George Bush

that whatever response or policy the U.S. develops it will be clear that

this nation will no longer target civilians, or accept any policy by any

nation which targets civilians. This would mean an end to the sanctions

against Iraq, which have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of

civilians. It would mean not only a condemnation of terrorism by

Palestinians but also the policy of assassination against the Palestinian

leadership by Israel, and the ruthless repression of the Palestinian

population and the continuing occupation by Israel of the West Bank and

Gaza. The policies of militarism pursued by the United States have resulted

in millions of deaths, from the historic tragedy of the Indochina war,

through the funding of death squads in Central America and Colombia, to the

sanctions and air strikes against Iraq. This nation is the largest supplier

of “conventional weapons” in the world – and those weapons fuel the starkest

kind of terrorism from Indonesia to Africa. The early policy of support for

armed resistance in Afghanistan resulted in the victory of the Taliban – and

the creation of Osama Bin Laden.

“Other nations have also engaged in these policies. We have, in years past,

condemned the actions of the Russian government in areas such as Chechnya,

the violence on both sides in the Middle East, and in the Balkans. But our

nation must take responsibility for its own actions. Up until now we have

felt safe within our borders. To wake on a clear cool day to find our

largest city under siege reminds us that in a violent world, none are safe.

“Let us seek an end of the militarism which has characterized this nation for

decades. Let us seek a world in which security is gained through

disarmament, international cooperation, and social justice – not through

escalation and retaliation. We condemn without reservation attacks such as

those which occurred, which strike at thousands of civilians. May these

profound tragedies remind us of the impact U.S. policies have had on other

civilians in other lands. We are particularly aware of the fear which many

people of Middle Eastern descent, living in this country, may feel at this

time and urge special consideration for this community.

“We are one world. We shall live in a state of fear and terror or we shall

move toward a future in which we seek peaceful alternatives to conflict and

a more just distribution of the world’s resources. As we mourn the many

lives lost, our hearts call out for reconciliation, not revenge.”

PHOTO-REPORTAGE DEPT.: This closure sign at Toys In Babeland expresses the mood on Capitol Hill this evening. In the coffeehouses and bars, everybody’s reading the Times and P-I afternoon street extras, making the same kinds of probably futile speculations you’re probably making, and feeling very quiet and concerned.

A lone protester in Westlake Park chats with passersby, trying to persuade them not to rush to blame the attack on the Afghans, the Iraqis, or Muslims in general. (Right-wing religious radio stations were reportedly spreading the totally untrue idea that Muslims believe they can’t get into Heaven unless they’ve killed an unbeliever.) The other side of the protester’s sign read, “Muslim People Are Good.”

Later that day, some people who’d already been planning a “Peace Day in Seattle” for Sept. 19 held a small rally at Westlake, of about 50-60 people.

A window at the evacuated Bon Marche, displaying the store’s school-fashion promotion and a retro T-shirt bearing a 1945 headline, inadvertantly say what I wish to say to you now.

Gotta have it. Peace.

JUST RETURNED from wandering downtown and holding hands with friends. The retail core was as abandoned as it might be on Christmas afternoon. Hastily drawn and desktop-published signs taped to windows offer “Thanks for your Snder Standing.”

MORBID ASIDE #4: Whenever regular television programming resumes, the Letterman show (and any others using Manhattan skylines in their logos) will have to hastily construct new openings.

SALON.COM’S eyewitness reports by their own freelancers. John Leonard’s entry in the package calls the attack “like the worst sort of TV movie.”

SOMETHING MORE PERSONAL to ponder: Historically, most major wars (whether their official motivation was religion, nationalism, racism, or liberation) have been really about territorial conquest. This, then, would not be definable as an act of war but one of pure hatred, coldly and complexly devised by a coordinated group, united in their dehumanization of others and their willingness to destroy their own lives in the proces.

MORBID THOUGHT #3: If, as some radio/TV commentators are speculating, it’s an act only a government of some country could have coordinated, could it possibly have been by our own, as part of some attempted military coup (or an attempted militarization of the country without an official coup)?

Is this the end of an era? If so, what is ending?

Will shoot-’em-up movies and video games become instantly passe, or will they become more popular due to an uprising of war-lust? (God, I hope not.)

DOWNTOWN STORES were quickly closed. Some have hand-scrawled signs pleading for our understanding.

NorthWest Cable News just finished carrying a live prayer service from St. James Cathedral. The eerie calmness, the serene ritual, was the most calming thing I could find. (The cable channel’s NWCN.com site crashed and was replaced by a simple page of crisis updates.)

Indeed, news websites across North America and Europe have been flooded with hits, and many are out. One that’s not: Yahoo.

I watched the prayer-service coverage with a neighbor whose sister lives in New Jersey and saw the implosion from her (the New Jersey sister’s) apartment window.

Pearl Harbor comparisons are not quite accurate. Pearl Harbor was a sneak attack, but it was an offensive strike against a specifically military target. This was an act of cold cruelty against civilians. If it really is the result of overseas terrorists, it’s the first major attack on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812.

And it’s an attack with no disclosed motive. Scripting.com quotes NPR commentator Daniel Schorr: “With Pearl Harbor there was a return address.”

NINETEEN DIFFERENT broadcast and cable TV channels are currently operating their own wall-to-wall terror coverage. Thirteen other channels are repeating the news feeds from channels within their respective media empires (i.e., ESPN repeating ABC, TBS repeating CNN). Eight channels have signed off during the tragedy, including most of the home-shopping channels.

Still cablecasting: The Style channel, rerunning yesterday’s taped coverage of the NYC Spring 2002 runway shows. Yes, one of the segments included a Manhattan skyline establishing shot, with the World Trade Center towers still standing.

DAVE WINER’S Scripting.com has more bombing-related links, updated constantly.

ADAM CURRY, the ex-MTV VJ now doing Net work in his native Holland, quotes author Tom Clancy on CNN: “This is life imitating art.” Curry adds, “This is like watching an action hero movie. I want Willis or Schwartzenegger to walk in right now. This is just un fucking real.”

IF YOU CAN TAKE IT, here are some webcam shots from the NYC disaster.

MORBID ASIDE #2: While no hijack-bombing suspects have been officially named, the TV blatherers are already presuming it’s the work of foreigners. KING 5’s even using the banner title “Attack on America.”

The Oklahoma City bombing was also initially presumed by many to be caused by Osma Bin-Laden, North Korea, the PLO, etc. etc. It quickly turned out not to be.

MORBID ASIDE #1: Something tells me the movie Independence Day won’t seem so totally far-fetched anymore. Or as watchable.

HERE’S THE BEST eyewitness-account story I’ve seen yet about this morning’s tragedy.

THE FOLLOWING comes from Aaron Barnhardt’s TV Barn site:

“Televised terrorist attack. We are looking at a giant factory of death. Smoke billows from from two glassy chimneys — then the chimneys tremble and sink from view. On the ground level, it is as though a volcano erupted. Watching Fox, I see zombies pass by. MSNBC’s, CBS’s and ABC’s Internet servers are overloaded…

“Twelve blocks north, an NBC News reporter (Jim Donahue?) did a standup while hundreds of firefighters, clad in black, walked past him to the scene of suffering. Around the reporter the sky was clear. One mile from the factory of death it was a beautiful late summer day.”