Could we slow this war train down just a little?

Everyone agrees that what happened a dozen days ago was horrific beyond imagination. The number of people murdered was more than twice Pearl Harbor.

We have to respond to terrorism, of course.

And it is very human to want vengeance.

Right now.

But if we send Americans into harm's way, we must be sure we're sending them after the right guy.

You have declared Osama bin Laden the "prime suspect" and have indicated you want him "dead or alive."

If you ask most outraged Americans who is to blame, they will tell you it is bin Laden. But that's based on your administration's tough-but-vague war rhetoric and lots of reporting by the nation's best newspapers that have "linked" him to Sept. 11. Much of that reporting has appeared in the pages of the Pioneer Press.

"Linked" is an easy word to throw around. What exactly does that mean?

Pardon me for being what President Lyndon Johnson used to call a "nervous Nelly," but could we see some better evidence before we starting killing people?

In 1964, Congress trusted Johnson and adopted the Gulf of Tonkin resolution after Johnson said North Vietnam had conducted deliberate attacks against U.S. naval vessels in international waters. The resolution gave Johnson the authority to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." We wound up losing a bloody war in Vietnam that tore our country apart.

Years later, questions emerged to cast doubt on the accuracy of what we'd been told about what actually happened that night in the Tonkin Gulf.

President Bill Clinton ordered the bombing of a nerve gas factory in the Sudan in 1998 to retaliate for terrorist bombings of two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people, including 12 Americans. Later, evidence indicated the "nerve gas factory" actually might have been a pharmaceutical plant.

This time around, the joint resolution authorizes you to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against anyone you determine committed or aided the Sept. 11 attacks. You've been made bin Laden's judge, jury and, perhaps, executioner.

Last week, even some of our allies were skittish about your tough talk. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned against military action that might kill innocent civilians, widen the gap between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East and further inflame attitudes against our policy there. He suggested military action be based on "hard evidence."

A reasonable idea, even in these trying times.

So far, you haven't offered any "hard evidence" that bin Laden is the mastermind behind Sept. 11. Based on his reputation, I suspect you're right that he is the culprit, but we should have more than allegations, linkages, newspaper stories and government rhetoric before our military starts killing people.

You should present the evidence to us, much as a prosecutor would to a jury.

These days, if you read the polls, the jury --- the American people -- sounds more like a lynch mob. They want someone to pay.

Evidence does exist that bin Laden was behind other terrorist crimes, but in the past, we've been unwilling to send American soldiers to try to capture him.

When -- if -- you show us evidence that he was indeed responsible for Sept. 11, your options are still risky. We have already proven that bombing parts of Afghanistan to kill bin Laden does not work. Besides, killing innocent people to avenge the killing of other innocent people is the way a terrorist behaves.

To find bin Laden, you'll likely have to send ground troops into Afghanistan. As we saw in Somalia, such raids don't always turn out like the movies. And you need to know where he is, something you don't seem to know right now.

Even if you succeed, military action risks killing one set of terrorists and creating another.

Don't forget: The American people can be pretty fickle about a war when the body bags start coming home and victory seems elusive.

So, you're faced with a tough choice. Yes, you must try to bring the murderers of more than 6,000 people to justice. Morality demands it and so does much of the world.

But we'd better know what we're doing and we'd better do it right. A good place to start is with the evidence. Mr. President, may we see it?

Walker Lundy is editor of the Pioneer Press.

© 2001 PioneerPlanet / St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press / TwinCities.com

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