Now that we’ve had a day to take a step back and better realize the enormous magnitude of what exactly took place Tuesday, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

One thing all citizens have been asking themselves is “How could this happen?”

We are the supposed leaders of the free world, the epitome of democracy and capitalism, and a model for all other less-developed nations. How could a group of terrorists, armed only with plane tickets and makeshift knives, turn a country upside down, destroying the epicenter of global economics and penetrating the walls of the nation’s most secure facility?

Our feeling of safety, comfort and invincibility now lies under tons of rubble and steel, buried alongside the innocent victims trapped in the wrong place at the absolute worst of times.

Emotions are running high and the American government and public are crying for vengeance. High-ranking officials toss words around like “war” and “hunt” in an attempt to stir up support for what will inevitably turn into a counterattack on the perpetrators once they are discovered.

It’s obvious another nation was not behind the deadly attacks. From all estimates, a terrorist organization was behind it. America’s response to these attacks should not be to pursue bloody vengeance.

Vengeance does nothing but increase the number of innocent people who lose their lives. If this turns out to be a terrorist organization, we should not punish innocent civilians in an attempt to destroy the culprits. We truly hope no more lives, whether American or not, are lost as a result of the tragedy that has occurred.

We live in a time when our greatest threats are not detectable missiles from major world enemies. How can we defend ourselves against unconventional attacks of terrorism? It could be an airplane flying into a building. It could be a suitcase full of biological weapons in a crowded subway. It could be a car bomb sitting in rush hour traffic.

Instead of pouring money into amassing more and more weapons of mass destruction, adding to infinite surpluses of missiles and high-tech war machines, perhaps more resources and more priority needs to be put into increasing intelligence. There needs to be a change of ideals in America when it comes to defending ourselves. This isn’t the Cold War era. World leaders no longer have their finger on the button waiting to see who will send the first strike that will ignite a world war. This is a changing world, and along with that comes changing threats.

There needs to be a change in Washington policy. Instead of concentrating on reactionary defense, our best option would be to focus more on preventitive policies. Better intelligence would decrease the chances that another horror like this will ever occur again. Too many innocent people, American and foreign, die as a direct result of such actions.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell