Howard Zinn

About the author: Howard Zinn is a professor of history at Boston University and a columnist for the Progressive.

Terrorist acts such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001, are crimes against humanity, but so is America's "war on terrorism." America's invasion of Afghanistan will kill far more civilians —largely because of intense bombing of Afghanistan's most populous areas—than did the September 11 attacks. Such killing of innocents, whether through terrorism or war, can never be justified. Rather than expanding its military presence throughout the world, the United States should withdraw troops from the Middle East and increase humanitarian aid to the region.

Editor's note: The following selection was written in November 2001, when the U.S.-led military occupation...