More than 10,000 people, in all likelihood, are dead. An icon of Americana lies in ruins. Terror has struck at the heart of the land of the free and the home of the brave, and the world sits in shock.

And we should be shocked, all the more so because what we have seen is only the beginning. In the space of an hour, a handful of individuals succeeded in killing perhaps as many people as died in half the Korean War. And make no mistake – as U.S. President George W. Bush announced to the world, this was an act of war. The comparisons to Pearl Harbor and Barbarossa are apt. Sept. 11 marked only the beginning of an invasion of everything the civilized world holds dear, the first major battle after decades of border skirmishes.

And the opposing generals, having met with such unprecedented success, will not rest now. We must count our blessings that the attackers were not carrying anthrax or, worse, a nuclear device. As we mourn, we must remember that more could have been killed – and surely will be if we do not act.

So what do we do? As our ancestors did time and again, we could batten the hatches and prepare for battle after bloody battle. We could declare an indefinite state of emergency and turn our societies into police states. We could scorch the earth with the best in modern weaponry.

But this is not a war that can be fought like those before. And neither are we facing an enemy who can be appeased or played for time. This is a war that cannot be avoided. We must face it now and with great resolve.

Out of the folly that brought us the first two world wars, out of the fear of a third, was born the United Nations and with it the wisdom that an integrated world is a peaceful one. We have not, of course, succeeded in ending war and we likely never will. But through the U.N. and other international bodies, most of the peoples of the world have learned how much better it is to talk and trade with each other than to fight endless wars.

And so, at the dawn of the third millennium, we inherit a world of opening societies and boundless potential, a world where ingenuity and hope have a chance to prevail.

But those same achievements leave us vulnerable. The same openness and tolerance that form the basis of liberty and progress provide a golden opportunity for the enemies of those ideals to wreak havoc. While Americans have forgotten the fears of Soviet missiles, they are painfully learning to fear a much more sinister enemy, an enemy against which no satellite can defend and who, as yet, fears no retaliation.

Closing our societies and rescinding our pledges of freedom are not the answer. If we succumb to paranoia, our enemies will have won.

But we can fight this war and win it. The answer lies in that same wisdom our fathers came to. We must band together and fight as one. And we must by no means stop at the banal promises we have heard so far.

Here is our proposal. All of the nations of the civilized world, all those who hate and fear terror, must come together to sign an Anti-Terrorism Convention. This Convention must add terrorism and the abetting of terrorism to the list of crimes against humanity, prosecutable by international tribunals. And participation in the Convention, as with similar treaties on non-proliferation, must be a pre-requisite for privileges such as full membership in the World Trade Organization or IMF loans.

And the Convention must create a new organization – call it the International Anti-Terrorism Organization, or IATO – either under the auspices of the U.N. or otherwise. This organization must have as its mandate the eradication of terrorism and it must have teeth.

A first priority for IATO must be the collection and dissemination of high-level intelligence on terrorists and terrorist groups. Every member must commit to make its intelligence available to every other in full and without delay. No member must be allowed to withhold information out of a false sense of national interest.

But that is not enough. As a former director of Israel's Mossad commented, no terrorist organization could have carried out these attacks without at least the tacit complicity of a government. Terrorists must act from somewhere and, excepting Antarctica, there is no place on earth that falls outside the sovereign territory of one state or another. If an individual deliberately harbored a criminal in his home, he would be prosecuted with the full force of the law. The same must hold true for countries that give shelter to terrorists.

We propose that IATO be given authority similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor and inspect its members' territory. If, for example, India suspects that Pakistan is harboring terrorists, rather than going to war it should bring a complaint before IATO. That complaint, based on intelligence available to all members, would be investigated by an objective panel, with both sides given the opportunity to make their case.

If the evidence seems compelling, IATO would demand clarification from the defendant. Failing that, a team would be sent to investigate. And in the end, if the defendant is found to be harboring terrorists, an indictment would be served.

If a country refuses to turn over terrorists for trial, the consequences must be dire. Economic and political sanctions must be swift and comprehensive. And political leaders who harbor terrorists must themselves face indictment.

We are not under the illusion that such a convention will be easy to negotiate or uphold. Many countries will protest that it is a violation of national sovereignty. But that is nonsense. We can only hope that what happened Sept. 11 – and the very real fear that it will happen again — will be enough to shock world leaders out of their complacency and pettiness and into meaningful action. We cannot afford to delay.

But in our zeal to protect ourselves, we must not stray into excess. Already the news is disturbing, as America's Arab and Muslim communities report a surge in hate crimes. These must not be tolerated.

Neither can we tolerate some of Washington's reactions. Police and border guards have been told to search for persons of "certain nationalities." Muslim groups are being investigated nationwide, as anything written in Arabic looks suspicious.

The evidence against Islamists does seem clear, but we mustn't allow ourselves to be swept into a new wave of racist McCarthyism. That would destroy the very ideals we are trying to defend.