WASHINGTON WATCH: IN OKLAHOMA, WORK OF THE DAMNED

Terrorism strikes in the United States as it has never struck before.

This is a time for anger. It is a time for emergency assistance. It is a time for meticulous investigation. It is a time for comforting. It is, as President Clinton has said, a time for prayer.

"Pray for the people who have lost their lives, pray for the families and the friends of the dead and the wounded, pray for the people of Oklahoma City. May God's grace be with them."This is not a time for fear. By giving into fear, we give into the plan of the twisted few who make the bombs. This country does not give in to fear.Yet the hype on television throughout Wednesday was often about fear. It makes one wonder, Does TV have no sense of life except as threatened? Not only did one news program hyperventilate how this "heartland" bombing meant each person in the United States was at risk, but it proposed that all Americans should undergo counter-terrorism training. In the words of an "expert" guest, "There should be training so that we all know what to do if we see someone placing bomb-like devices at a scene and then racing off in a car." His suggestion was to set up training seminars in schools and in the workplace.The more practical response: Call 911.Alas, "end of the world" was the tone of most of the TV reports that I saw. That is a shame, for it gives a sort of power to the terrorists themselves. These people, and their sponsors, do not deserve anything more or less than justice -- swift, certain and severe.

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Give President Clinton credit for sending the right messages soon after the explosion. Although his speech was rife with I's -- for example, "I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards" -- he made clear a plan of action, and that was most important.His action was in stark contrast to the plaintive pleas the day before, when he lamely argued in a press conference, "The Constitution gives me relevance. ... The president is relevant here." The sad reality for Clinton is that few look to him for leadership anymore. Consistently, he has not given it, and his advisers have been left wishing for an event where he can appear bold and decisive. The bombing in Oklahoma City is a reminder that we should be careful about what we wish for. But give the president credit, he has said what needs to be said and done what needs to be done.

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It is interesting to note, however, the terms the president used in describing the perpetrators of the bombing. In his White House statement Wednesday, he called them "evil cowards" and "killers." Nowhere did the word "terrorists" appear. Nor did he use the word "extremists." The fact is he couldn't.

In recent weeks, he and others in the White House have overused these terms talking about Republicans in the House of Representatives. Now that real terrorists and extremists have appeared on the scene, he can't call them by name without making his scorching rhetoric about Republicans seem foolish and overblown. This is what happens when we use words in situations where they don't belong. We not only demean ourselves, we take the meaning from the words.

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Collapsed, nine floors of the Oklahoma City federal office building. The entire front torn away. A crater in the street. Glass and concrete fragments shot like lightning. Children and babies. Exploded cars. Fire and smoke and blood. Death toll keeps rising. This is the work of terrorists. This is the work of the damned.Let us pray for the dead. Let us pray for the wounded. Let us pray for the families. Let us pray for the city. Let us pray for our leaders. Let us pray.

Jon K. Rust is a Washington-based writer for the Southeast Missourian.