by Deborah Silverthorn

Special to DJW

"We didn't make the war, or throw down the gauntlet, but we do have to deal with it and we must come to grips with it," said Oliver "Buck" Revell, associate deputy director of the FBI, retired, as he spoke to an audience of almost 350 at Congregation Beth Torah on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Congregation president Paul Koch introduced the evening, hosted by the adult education committee and produced by Bnai Zion.

Revell, an aviator in the Marine Corps before becoming a special agent in 1964, spent 38 years in the FBI. He was in charge of the FBI's criminal investigative, counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs and international investigative and liaison activities of the Bureau, including its legal attach and Interpol operations.

Revell, an aviator in the Marine Corps before becoming a special agent in 1964, spent 38 years in the FBI. He was in charge of the FBI's criminal investigative, counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs and international investigative and liaison activities of the Bureau, including its legal attach and Interpol operations.

"A G-Man's Journal" chronicles Revell's experiences in the FBI from the Kennedy assassination investigation to the Oklahoma City bombing. Revell, who has been interviewed numerous times on news programs, is the president of the Dallas-based Law Enforcement Television Network and Revell Group International, Inc, a security and strategy consultancy group.

Celebrations of terrorist events, not in Arab countries, but in New Jersey, Kansas and other areas, appear on the video. "For his efforts to try to inform the United States of these conditions," said Revell, "Steve Emerson was ostracized, criticized and threatened throughout mainstream America ... until last Sept. 11. Now he's constantly asked to speak and he's a correspondent for NBC and people are listening."

Revell showed the video to congress, while testifying soon after the attacks of 9-11, to show that indeed the United States was the center of great intensity that something would, did, and has indeed changed our country in a significant way.

So many were surprised by the attacks; Revell was not. "I'm not a prophet and I don't read tea leaves, but there were numerous efforts by Hezbollah, Jihad and other extremists groups that were more than introductions to terror. The freedoms that allow these terrorists to function are exactly those [freedoms] they despise," said Revell.

"It's time for our government, as an institution, to look in the mirror to find who is responsible for our lack of preparedness," said Revell. "In 1995, during the trials of suspects in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was going on, most Americans were involved in the soap-opera trial of O.J. Simpson."

"We have changed," said Revell "and we will continue to change. We as a society will face not one, two or four years of 9-11 history: we are now fighting the hatred that Israel has fought since 1946. The continuing conflict with elements like Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda, who want only our demise, has been exposed and we are all fighting this war, and it is a war, together.

The Bnai Zion Foundation, founded in 1908, is a non-partisan Zionist organization that strengthens ties between the United States and Israel by supporting humanitarian projects in health care, education, research and community development. Memberships are $42 for singles and $56 for families. Bnai Zion presents its annual fundraising dinner on November 16 at the Intercontinental Hotel. The event honoring Jack Altman and Marcy Helfand and will include a raffle, silent auction, kosher meal and entertainment.

Tickets are $130 per person and proceeds will be used to purchase supplies and equipment for the 450-bed Bnai Zion Medical Center in Haifa. Recently designated as a military hospital, Bnai Zion Medical Center serves much of northern Israel.

To make reservations for the dinner or for more information, call Bnai Zion at (972) 918-9200. To read more about or to contact Oliver "Buck" Revell, call (972) 463-6601 or visit Revell Group's Web site at .