It was while watching U.S. President George W. Bush's speech to the nation Sept. 20 that it all finally sank in. There is going to be a war - he just declared it. There is no going back. I am afraid because I have no control over it. We do not have a choice; we are now forced into a position to defend ourselves. At one point during his speech, Mr. Bush was thanking various nations for their support, and I noticed that Canada did not come up once.
Caroline W.

Was Canada deliberately snubbed in the White House Speech? Canadians were among the many countries deeply affected and outraged by the attack. We were the first country to openly offer our support. Their planes were diverted to our airports, at no small risk to ourselves. Money has been raised and blood donated, all in the name of compassion and a willingness to help any way we can. Many of our firefighters, doctors, nurses and many others have flown to New York to give any assistance they can offer. I was more than a little upset by the president's omission.
Susan Waterman

The speech delivered by U.S. President George W. Bush on Sept 20 was brilliant - the best speech he has delivered yet. He counted Australia, India, Pakistan and many others as allies. He indicated that the United States has friends in Europe and South America. He put Great Britain on a pedestal as America's greatest ally. But where is Canada in all of this? Don't we even warrant a mention?
A. Dexter Bruce, Montreal

I have just finished watching U.S. President George W. Bush's address and was very disturbed when countries like Mexico, Jordan, and Britain were mentioned as being very much on side with the United States, yet no mention was made of Canada's shoulder-to-shoulder support.
Daniel Steeves, Ottawa

The Americans have the intelligence and the technology to deliver an intelligent war. The Afghan population should not pay the price for the American response. They are already living in hell under the Taliban regime.
Carlo Nuccio, St-Hubert, Que.

If all the countries are supporting U.S. and all would co-operate by cutting their aid, wouldn't that eventually smoke them out? How would they survive without help from other countries?
Chris Barkley

The facts are that the Americans have played the puppeteer to too many countries and destroyed a lot of lives. The resentment is aimed at the American government and the solution lies in the same place.
William Kim

This is the beginning of a new era with the possible decentralization of whole cities and industries to avoid concentration of populations in dense centres that would be subject to terrorist attacks. It will also make governments more totalitarian as they seek measures to avoid repetitions of these events.
Allan Rein, MD

Airport security crackdowns have gone overboard. Last week they were confiscating nail files and tweezers. What's going to happen? "Crash this plane or I'll pluck your nose hair and give you a good filing"?
C. Stevens

How can we talk of reason, meetings and discussions with the perpetrators? How can somebody talk or reason with fanatics who say: "To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able, in any country where this is possible"?
Cheryl Lutz, Pittsburgh

What is more important, to treat the symptom or cure the disease? Or, what is more important, to attack the Taliban or to destroy the terrorist factories that produced the Taliban? The Taliban are all alumni of maddrasses, or Muslim seminaries, located in Pakistan. These same maddrasses are continuing to produce countless terrorists all bent on Islamic jihad. The elimination of Osama bin Laden and his cabal of vipers is indeed necessary, although far from sufficient. We should reconsider what exactly is a Band-Aid solution and what is the cure.
Tom Mueller

Here are some thoughts and suggestions: 1. The security at all airports, both domestic and international, must be increased appropriately to ensure that future hijackings are eliminated. We have to learn from the Israelis - the delay caused by the additional security measures is necessary. 2. Consider installing bulletproof and stronger partitions for the cockpit of all commercial aircraft. Doors to the cockpit should be locked at all times. 3. Airlines should have total discretion not to sell tickets to any suspected individual, and not to allow any suspected individual to board an aircraft. 4. All individuals and schools offering training in commercial aircraft and simulator training should be properly licensed and controlled. 5. All individuals applying to enroll for training in commercial aircraft must be thoroughly screened for their criminal record and psychologically tested. 6. The military preparedness and strategies to deal with similar attacks must be reviewed and revised to ensure that fighter jets can be scrambled immediately to fly into similar suicide aircraft or to shoot them down. 7. We may not fully comprehend the comprehensive U.S. defence and attack operations plan, but there appears to be sufficient time for the Air Force to send at least a squadron of fighter jets to intercept the remaining three suicide planes after the first plane flew into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. 8. We should review policies pertaining to immigration, requirements for visas from countries that are considered friendly to terrorists, policies pertaining to selling advanced weapons to other non-Western non-Christian countries, providing training for American and Western fighter jets and military weapons. Terrorists are not confined to Muslims. 9. The security of the airports should be the responsibility of the government, and not contracted security companies who pay close to minimum wages to security guards.
Chee-Kong Leong, Toronto