Like probably most writers at work in the nation this week, I have found it hard to focus on what I wanted to say about the terrorist attack. The attack certainly was as much a shock to this nation as Pearl Harbor was in 1941. At least it was to my generation.

As usual there are the same divisions in opinion today as back then as to how to respond. Those who want to march off to war and immediately pulverize terrorists and all the nations that harbor them and those who believe a non-violent response is best.As attractive as the pacifist argument is, it ignores a basic truth. There can be no peace without changed behavior....and bullies don't change behavior unless they are forced into doing so.

I was three months old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Then, like now, well-meaning, good-hearted people argued that America should not enter the fray but should work instead for peace. I wonder what kind of future I would have enjoyed if pacifists had prevailed in 1941? Indeed, I wonder if I would have had any life whatsoever if my father's generation hadn't had the courage to go to war to defeat the enemy?

I know little about war. But I do know something about human nature from much observation over the years. Rule number one is you can't appease bullies. Not then, not now and not ever. Sad to say some people who walk this earth are violent, aggressive, zealous by nature and worse, extremely unhappy. Such personality traits are the spawning ground for bullies.

Rule number two: Taking no action when dealing with bullies and hoping their bad behavior will go away never works. One must take action in the face of aggression or... the aggression gets worse.

My generation remembers well the lesson learned by Chamberlain who tried to make a deal with Hitler and give Germany Czechoslovakia in order to appease the Nazis. The plan was doomed from the start because bullies are never satisfied no matter what you offer them. One must stand up to bullies, make their lives difficult, and resist at all costs. otherwise, bullies take over the world.

We all know bullies, that unpleasant breed of humanity first seen on the playground of our youth in elementary school. They were the ones who chased us behind the teacher's back and stole our lunch money or punched us in the stomach when nobody was looking and then laughed as we tried to hide the tears.

Sad to say child bullies often grow into adult bullies. Bullies don't have the capacity for happiness so they dedicate their lives to ruining everything they can in life.

The terrorists that plotted so brilliantly to kill the thousands of Americans last week are nothing more than bullies. They only live to maim and wreck havoc on the rest of the world because they cannot stand their own miserable lives.

Yes, we must confront the bullies of this world, wherever we find them, take action lest they take over the world. But we must also remember rule number three: Victims of bullies who fight back often discover somewhere along the way that they have crossed over the line. Thus victims turn into bullies themselves and for all the right reasons.

Thus, in resisting bullies, always keep in mind rule number four: always remember to check your own behavior first.