Stand back and ask how this could have happened. Third, find a way, with enforceable constitutional limits, to prevent our leaders from ever again provoking this kind of anger against America.
There are those who will say this article is unpatriotic and un-American — that this is not a time to question our country or our leaders. When will we learn that without freedom and sanity, there is no reason to be patriotic? In case there was any misunderstanding, here is what I believe:. Here are some of the objections people have made against my position. Should I wait until after our military invades Afghanistan before speaking out? We could use your help too. To do what? Encourage our politicians to continue doing the very things that led to this?
We will continue to see more acts by our government that will lead to more terrorist attacks on the U. I will be hysterical because it is the only thing I can do to show my countrymen that I mourn them. Hysteria creates lynch mobs and more killing of innocent people. Grief, anger, and resentment are all natural reactions to what happened. But letting your emotions make bad decisions is not a productive reaction.
But, now what? Save that for later. Right now we need immediate action. Is that what you want? Political posturing? Do you really think I expected to receive adulation for writing an article that goes so sharply against current public opinion?
In what way? To try to stop it from happening again? To try to stop our politicians from running off and bombing more innocent people? I understand your outrage and emotional reaction, but we must hold our own politicians accountable for the anger they are causing around the world with their careless, dangerous, show-off tactics.
You do not deserve to remain here with this type of un-American diatribe which only serves to support the voices of moderation. I thought this is supposed to be a free country in which everyone was allowed to speak his mind. I guess I misunderstood. I am a private citizen who grieves for what the politicians have done to my country and to the innocents who die in America and abroad. We have done that already — bombing Libya, invading Panama, bombing a perfume factory in the Sudan, bombing Afghanistan.
Before we run off bombing innocent people or is every Afghani guilty of the World Trade Center bombing? Or is it bad timing to bring that up now? America is at war. To win a war it must be fought in totality. A war against whom? Against people like the one million Iraqis who have died of starvation or disease because of the American blockade? Against people like the innocents who died in the bombings of the Sudan and Afghanistan? I wrote my article in the vain hope it might help people to think twice before demanding the wrong action.
I hope the people who were involved are found, tried, and punished. Someone has to stand up to bullies wherever they are! Like the Nazis; the only good Religious Fundamentalist is one that is in heaven! Not only is it a time for the U. Did I mention that there was a lot of hysteria and a lynch-mob sentiment right now? The U. After years of arming Saddam Hussein, the U. Perhaps you could give me an example of where U.
Obviously, the individuals involved in the attacks should be found, prosecuted, and punished. But going to war against another country or some vague conspiracy will solve no more than the examples I just gave. We have to retaliate once we confirm who is responsible.
Otherwise, even more horrific events are sure to occur in the future. We have retaliated in the past, and still horrific events followed.
You are right. In my haste to get the article finished, I was careless in relying on my imperfect memory and not looking it up. In my last commentary, I pointed out that killing innocent people is terrorism, no matter who does it — free-lance terrorists, an international conspiracy, a foreign government, or our government. Find the terrorist conspirators and punish them — yes. Bomb innocent people — no. I understand your sentiments, but I respectfully disagree with them — for two reasons:.
First, you have no idea what liberties are going to be taken from you. And whatever they are, you can have no expectation of ever getting them back — even if the underlying problem goes away completely. For just one obvious example, income tax withholding was instituted as a war measure in , and it is still with us today. Second, taking away our liberties rarely achieves the goals used to justify the new oppression. And yet drugs are as widespread today as when these intrusions were put in place.
But I can assure you that any invasion of civil liberties will affect you more than they do the truly guilty who will quickly learn about the invasions and how to circumvent them. Instead, the delay gave England time to get ready to resist Hitler — and even then, a better-prepared England just barely survived.
Our government must intervene overseas to root them out — just as we did in World War II. There are people with diseased minds in every part of the world — from your neighborhood right on up to heads of state. Once you accept the idea that a preemptive strike is justified, where do you stop? In World War I was winding down to a close. Germany was suing for peace. A negotiated settlement was close, and the world could have returned to its pre-war borders and peace.
But it was not to be. At that point Woodrow Wilson took America into the conflict. That intervention changed history irrevocably for the worse. Millions of fresh American soldiers streamed into Europe — tipping the balance of power and overwhelming an enemy exhausted from three years of war.
Germany and Austria surrendered, the German emperor fled to the Netherlands, and the Allies imposed devastating conditions upon a defeated Germany. And so a nation of great artistry that had produced the likes of Goethe and Wagner was willing to accept a dictator who promised to help them get even.
Could Woodrow Wilson — or anyone else — have foreseen all this in advance? How will we respond? What can you as an American do to help? I wrote of al Qaeda 's hatred of freedom, of its perversion of a beautiful religion, of the need to avoid religious or ethnic prejudice. Categories : International Public opinion United States. Navigation menu Personal tools Log in. Namespaces Page Discussion. Views Read View source View history. This page was last edited on 8 October , at
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