America was shocked and stunned beyond words on September 11, 2001. We watched television reports of the rapid destruction of two of the largest buildings in our nation. It was hard to believe our eyes. There were many human casualties from many different countries.

This is a time of rapid change in the USA. The greatest change is that now we will aggressively seek out terrorists and their networks where ever they are. Many other nations will join this organized effort. Airline security will be improved dramatically.

The terrorist attack served to arouse and unite most Americans. Most citizens agree we must capture and bring the terrorists to justice. Americans are determined to eliminate their networks and restore our freedoms. Our President is calling this a war although war has not been officially declared. We are expecting a long and difficult war. It will be a much different kind of war than the world has ever known. Why do the terrorist dislike Americans so much? They see Americans as enemies of Islam. These feelings increased during the Gulf War when American troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia. This is the home of Islamic sacred ground. Many Arabs dislike our support for Israel in their struggles with their neighbors in that part of the World.

The terrorists are trying to make this a religious war. Many Arabs that practice Islam are bitter that the terrorists are involving their religion to justify attacking America.

My opinion is America should proceed with much caution. We need to make certain that Arabs know we are not enemies of their Islamic faith. We need to find a way to settle the Israeli Palestinian problem. We must do some positive things to win the support of Arabs that are offended by our actions. I believe this strategy will be more beneficial than military action. We may need to use limited military action to seek and destroy terrorist training bases. I hope it stops there.

I had hoped to tell you about the recent AABP annual conference in Vancouver, Canada. However, airline service stopped for several days and I was not able to attend the meeting. AABP did go ahead with the meeting but 65% of those registered could not attend.

World Dairy Expo will still have their meeting October 4 to 7. Foreign attendance is expected to be down. There is increased concern over Foot and Mouth Disease and biosecurity. There is increased concern that terrorists could employ germ warfare.

The terrorist act has disrupted our economy. Airline business has decreased severely and people are not making major purchases. We do no know how long it will take for our country to return to normal.