By: Jeff Halper

One of the most conspicuous features of the September 11 attack on the United States was the general inability to "get a handle" on what had happened. Thousands of responses filled our TV screens and newspapers. Those of the victims' families were predictably emotional. So were the responses of the-man-on-the-street, which ranged from shaken and disoriented to patriotic and revengeful. Nor did the public get much perspective and clarity from the learned "experts," political figures and apologetic voices from the Muslim world. While all this is understandable in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, a year later we still do not have that perspective, that "handle." The overriding reaction continues to be one of "war" retaliation and victory as if we are simply in a conventional battle with the "bad guys."