Article June 10, 2002 Issue

What's 'inevitable' on the terrorist front?

By Channing Walker

The Christian Science Monitor

FBI Director Robert Mueller, during a talk he gave in May, was asked about the possibility of suicide bombing attacks in the United States similar to the kind that have occurred in Israel in recent months.

He replied, "I think we will see that in the future; I think it's inevitable." Additionally, he said, "There will be another terrorist attack. We will not be able to stop it. It's something we all live with." And, almost plaintively, he added, "I wish I could be more optimistic" (Los Angeles Times, May 21).

Straight talk like that sure doesn't offer any false comfort or assurance. Clearly, Director Mueller had no intention of offering it. Does such talk speed us, and law enforcement authorities. to take additional antiterrorist measures? That's obviously a need. Or does it paralyze us with fear? That's plainly a hindrance. Or—here's a third possibility—could it stir us to rethink what's really inevitable? And could that rethinking, if it's approached from a spiritual angle, both underpin the best antiterrorist efforts and undercut the paralyzing effects of fear?

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