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the face of  overwhelming grief. But there is also a growing moral revulsion 
and perhaps an understandable expression of the need for vengeance. Even as 
some people unfairly, even preposterously, become the victims of this newest 
hatred, the American President has promised revenge. 

Can anything be wrong with hating ruthless strategists who achieve their 
political goals by the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent civilians? How 
can it be wrong for a woman to hate the rapist who has permanently scarred 
her, or for victims to hate leaders or organisers of mobs that lynched them? 

At issue here is not the feeling of an intense desire to hurt others in order 
to gain advantage for oneself. Of course, malicious hatred is obnoxious. But 
those who hate  the perpetrators of the carnage on September 11are not driven 
by malice or spite. Hating the wrong-doer is not morally inappropriate. If 
so, it must be morally permissible to desire to hurt the wrong-doer. It is 
extremely abnormal if self-respecting persons do not experience righteous 
anger, even hatred towards those who have wronged them.There must be some 
room in our moral topography for what the philosopher, Jeffrie Murphy calls 
retributive hatred.

Yet it may not be wise or morally appropriate for victims to act on these 
feelings. It is imprudent because retaliatory action sparks off escalating 
cycles of revenge and reciprocal violence. Retaliation by the US and counter 
retaliation will almost certainly plunge the entire world into greater 
suffering, pain, vulnerability and insecurity. Revenge can unleash even 
greater tragedies. 

How do we make sure that today's victims do not  become tomorrow's 
perpetrators of much worse? What if the original motive of revenge unravels 
an unappeasable thirst for violence? If lessons of history teach us anything 
at all, it is that the barbaric acts of one group solicit equally barbaric 
acts from others. No matter on whom the first blow was struck, if our aim is 
to terminate barbarism, then, it must be stalled now, suddenly, and abruptly. 
In the shifting sands of the complex ethic at work here, the entire moral 
advantage rests with victims of the immediate crime. If the vision that 
generally motivates them is to come good eventually, it is best, all things 
considered, to forgo the temptation to act on retributive hatred and feelings 
of vengeance. 

Retribution, not revenge

To restrain vengeful motives is wise for another reason. Undoubtedly, the 
massacre on the East coast is motivated by the desire to question the 
economic, political and cultural supremacy of the USA in a radically unequal 
world. If and when the mightiest nation in the world retaliates, it will not 
be to grant equal status to offenders. It is rather more likely that, by a 
massive display of strength,
they will be shoved further back in their less than equal place. The not so 
hidden text of American retaliation will be an abject lesson to all to never 
again dare American supremacy. 

Will it surprise anyone if a disproportionate and symbolic show of force to 
maim and crush the enemy flows from the very same motive of vengeance? It is 
true, of course, that some acts of revenge are the wellspring of equality and 
refute claims of supremacy  by wrong-doers. However, the spectacular show of 
violence on September 11 and in the days to come is likely to reveal a 
different,warped logic of alternating claims of superiority. 

We need retribution for sure, but not revenge. In the days to come, we must 
not be forced to witness ghost towns in other parts of the world with more 
terror-stricken faces, choked voices, desperately crying for help. American 
might must be restrained, perpetrators must be brought to book in an 
international court of justice and tried for  crimes against humanity, our 
common humanity. 

This would just be a beginning. To set a larger process of reconciliation in 
motion, the messages of marginalised collectives hidden under the gruesome 
rubble of Tuesday's destruction must be decoded and discussed by moderates 
from all over the world. Only by properly understanding the social, cultural 
and spiritual basis of self-respect in our troubled times can we ever begin 
to address the problems violently thrown at us on September 11.