If war is not the answer, what is? Here’s what the Quakers (the Friends’ Committee on National Legislation, in particular) propose, with which I largely agree:

• mobilize law enforcement means of pursuing the perpetrators;
• empower the UN to intervene in states that harbor and encourage terrorists;
• preserve domestic civil liberties;
• enhance compassionate aid to the people even of offending states, and to refugees from war zones;
• resume efforts toward a just lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
• lead a worldwide effort to reduce CBNW stockpiles and prevent their unauthorized dissemination and use;
• robust economic assistance to those who have lost jobs or income in the aftermath of the attacks.

Here’s their “grassroots toolkit” for encouraging non-military alternatives and supporting those in the US government who might take a similar stand. Here’s the FCNL’s official position paper on the U.S bombing of Afghanistan.

President Bush has said that the attacks of September 11 changed everything. Perhaps, but the thinking of our government officials and their response to violence remains unchanged. The U.S.-led military campaign is merely a high tech and more destructive version of a 19th century military strategy, and promotes the law of force over the force of law. By leading a military campaign in Afghanistan, the U.S. has fallen from its internationally recognized moral high ground to a much more morally ambiguous position in the eyes of many around the world. This response is inadequate to the demands of the 21st century and is unbecoming to America.