We have wept for those poor unfortunate souls, we have aided and given comfort where possible, but always with  the knowledge that we were safely out of harm's way. And always, if we are being honest with ourselves, quietly in our private moments have silently given thanks that it was not happening  in our land or to those we hold dear. 

 This is no longer the case. Today the horror is here, and we, and our children, are the ones who shall bear the brunt of the hatred these maniacs are inflicting on humanity. 

Terrorist attacks of this week's magnitude shatter our assumptions about how  much security we have, or need. They force us to weigh our civil liberties against the restrictions we now must accept in order to protect ourselves from the kind of insidious attack that brought mass death to New York and Washington.

This is too big a question for pat answers. We may not have as much choice as we would like. But it is important to debate whether - and how much - we are willing to change our way of life to reduce our vulnerability to hijackings, bombings, kidnappings and other terrorist strikes.

 As we witnessed on September 11th the reports and photographs of the horrific terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, in which thousands of innocent citizens perished, our immediate reaction was an all encompassing anger  mixed with astonishment that this could happen here, in North America, and to the world's most powerful nation.  This anger was followed by immediate calls for retaliation and revenge. Against whom? Anyone, who might have harboured or encouraged these madmen in their insane zeal and suicidal mission. 

 But in its hour of grief, struggling to cope with a crime  beyond imagining, the U.S.  proved to be a nation ruled by law, not raw emotion. And endowed with grace under pressure. Thank God, those in the position to make decisions  resisted the temptation to blindly lash out against those who had perpetrated this barbarous crime against humanity.

It would compound the crime if we should visit the same on helpless people. And it would be another victory for the terrorists. In the best of worlds, the killers who murdered so many will be hounded to the end of the Earth, brought before justice and tried for crimes against humanity - that  is how justice works in our democracy. There is no collective guilt.  To descend to the terrorists' level would grossly demean the memories of so many  American victims, legitimize the terrorists' barbarity, and encourage more such carnage. 

 Canadians  totally  support the United States of America  in whatever actions may be necessary in order to protect our countries. As Prime Minister Chrétien has stated, "At a time like this, words fail us. We reel before the blunt and terrible reality of the evil we have just witnessed." Quoting Martin Luther King, Chrétien said: " 'In the end, it is not the words of your enemies that you remember, it is the silence of your friends.'  There will be no silence from Canada.''

Not since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has America been dealt such a blow. But Pearl Harbor, however treacherous the enemy may have been, was an attack upon U.S. military targets. Most of the carnage inflicted by the terrorists in America was against helpless, unarmed, painfully innocent people.

The stories of courage, sacrifice and loss, selfless volunteerism, ordinary people wrestling with grief, and love of family have done more than any aid  program could to present the human face of America.

We are all victims of this monumental attack upon humanity and upon civilization itself. And if we do not  now know it, we shall quickly learn  that the world is a truly  vulnerable, dangerous place, and  there is no real defence against the  perverse hatreds and passions of evil  men. Not in retaliation or in surrender.

Hatred is corrosive; it saps the spirit and warps the mind. Anger, as Bismarck famously put it, is a poor adviser. The rhetoric of war and the discourse of rage contribute little to a  rigourous reflection on how to protect the values of our civilization which is under attack. Allowing the killers to create a global version of Jerusalem or Belfast would  be to confirm their vision, not defeat it.

For the sake of all of us I pray  that our leaders  will, in the days to come, proceed with prudence, restraint and due diligence. Canada's bottom line is crystal clear. We are the U.S.'s foremost friend, partner and ally, and as such our responsibilities are unmistakable.

 One other fact is also manifestly clear .... If the barbarians responsible for launching this Day of Infamy  were counting on panic and permanent disarray, they could not possibly have been more wrong.