AMERICA, HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING FROM THIS?
By Wes Edwards
September 15, 2001
"Kill all the towelheads!"
"Only by destroying the Islamic religion can we wipe out this threat once and
for all."
These are actual words that I have personally heard spoken since the terrorist
attacks on Tuesday. I'm not sure why it takes a disaster of this magnitude to bring
out this level of racism and intolerance, but I'm convinced these beliefs were
merely dormant below the surface before this happened. For a nation that chose to
boycott an international conference on racism, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
America, I understand your pain, and yes, I understand your thirst for revenge. What
was done on Tuesday was absolute evil. The people trapped in the hijacked planes and
those killed in the World Trade Center did NOT deserve to be punished for the crimes
of your government.
Let me make it clear that what happened was wrong on many levels and taking revenge
only seems to make sense given the enormous vulnerability that the United States
feels right now. It is important for Americans to realize what revenge will gain
them: nothing. A momentary sense of satisfaction? I doubt it. You don't even know
who your enemies are yet!
I'll give you a hint. It could be:
Guatemala, Palestinians, Iraq, China, Colombia, Somalia, The Kurds, Nicaraugua,
Lybia, Afghanistan, Iran, Chile, Yugoslavia, Syria, El Salvador, India, Haiti,
Macedonia, Sudan, Cuba, or any other country or group of people that has been a
victim of rabid American imperialism. Any one of these countries could have done
this, and do you know WHY they would have done this to your country? Revenge!
All of these countries and more have had the pleasure of being on the receiving end
of your vile and insane foreign policy. You have supported death squads in El Salvador,
instituted torture, assassinations and lynch mobs in Israel, the intentional
starvation of the Iraqi people, the bombing of civilian infrastructure in Iraq and
Yugoslavia... the list goes on... and on. By the strict definition of 'terrorism',
it is the United States and its client states who are the worst perpetrators in
the world.
I imagine the same righteous fury that you feel at these terrible attacks are the
same feelings that inspired the acts themselves. It is as a result of your horrific
foreign policies over many decades that someone in the world decided that you needed
a taste of your own medicine. Unfortunately, they decided to target American civilians,
most of whom know nothing about the horrible things the United States government has
done in their names.
So while I can understand why the United States was targeted by this attack, I am
surprised that you seem to have learned nothing from it. Already, there are calls
to drop a nuclear warhead on Afghanistan. Why Afghanistan? Apparently, the media has
decided that Osama Bin Lauden is guilty. Someone needs to be punished but why don't
we determine who the guilty is before we condemn those we suspect?
Arab-Americans have been beaten and harrassed in the streets by angry
non-Arab-Americans. This whole incident has been compared to the attack at Pearl
Harbor. Maybe the comparison goes further than the sneak-attack itself... At that
time, innocent Japanese-Americans (who did not support the actions of Japan) were
treated in much the same manner, guilt by association. This is racism, pure and
simple, and it is unacceptable. What will the next stage be? Forced internment camps
for all Arab-Americans or Muslims?
Revenge is a game that will only end when one side is either completely destroyed
or has learned the important lesson--that you should extricate yourself from the
cycle of violence. By all means, seek justice for this crime. No person or persons
should be able to get away with the slaying of innocent civilians. This is one of
the primary reasons why the United Nations attempted to set up the International
Criminal Court. It's a shame that the United States did its best to block this
proposal, demanding that the United States never go on trial for any of its crimes.
America, someone is trying to tell you something by bombing the Pentagon and the
World Trade Center, and regardless of the immoral and evil way in which they chose
to inform you, it is nonetheless important that you listen and learn.
And there is a lesson.
The world does not want the United States to be the dominant unipolar power in
the world--you are NOT the beacon of hope and freedom that you imagine yourself
to be. The world does not trust you--you have been caught lying and cheating far
too often. The world does not want your military bases in its backyards--to protect
us from who? The world does not want your insidious corporate capitalism, where whole
nations are virtually enslaved so that YOU can live in prosperity. The world does
not need your interference when WE try to fix the problems of the world while YOU
continually use your United Nations Security Council status to veto all of our
progress.
It is a time for mourning, and so we should. But it would be a shame if this
horrible event didn't act as a wake up call for the American people. Sadly, with
enough Americans demanding the genocide of the entire Arab race, I doubt you'll
ever learn anything. If that is the case, you had better start preparing for more
and more bombings. Whoever you decide to arbitrarily attack in your thirst for
revenge will eventually demand revenge on you. And thus the cycle will continue...
Stop the cycle now, America...
NAVIGATION
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