I have to admit that I am somewhat puzzled
by some of the editorials that I have read in these pages since the massacre of some 6400 innocents from 60 different countries that occurred in New York City and Washington D.C. on September 11 of this year. I have read the sentiments of Brian Kent, Cornell '95 (Letter to the Editor, September 25), who says that "we must not [punish] with violence or without understanding." Mr. Kent goes on to add that he "love[s] this country, but [he] do[es] not love it enough that [he is] willing to hate for it."
I am now forced to ask Mr. Kent a few questions. How would he like to see the United States behave over the coming months and years? How are we to punish? "Crippling" economic sanctions? Are these the same sanctions imposed upon Saddam Hussein that have in no way hindered his ability to produce chemical and biological weapons and menace his own people, to say nothing of his Arab and Jewish neighbors?
Mr. Kent should understand that any punishment forthcoming from the United States would be accompanied by a great deal of understanding on the part of its government and its citizenry. This understanding of the menace that we face was made that much clearer by Osama bin Laden himself, in his own words! "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim" ("Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders," 23 February 1998).
This country and others sympathetic to democracy and liberty who count themselves as devotees of many different religions and none at all have been attacked repeatedly for years. From the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 to the apartment tower bombings in Saudi Arabia, to embassy blasts in East Africa, to the bombing of a United States Navy destroyer in Yemen, to the horrific events of September 11, it is clear that there are those who are taking this directive to kill Americans simply because they are Americans seriously.
Except now the numbers of people killed who are not Americans because of the ramblings of a fanatic are beginning to grow as of September 11, 2001.
This country should do everything possible to avoid armed conflict for certain. The grisly stories of my grandfather's trip through Europe during 1944 and 1945 on the back of a United States Army tank are enough to convince anyone of the horrors of war. However, then, as now, we could stand by only so long before the time came to snuff out the fires of wickedness and extremism with a force that surpassed the harsh words of condemnation.
I am not willing to coexist with people who wish to kill me and those dear to me; with people who wish to destroy the innocent; with people who wish to kill Americans and others in the same "swath of destruction;" with people who are willing to kill themselves to kill others undeserving of such a fate. I suspect I am not alone in that sentiment.
I wish I could produce some evidence to show that verbal, political and economic exhortations to end extremism, terrorism, and killing for the sake of killing have worked, but I am at a loss, as was Neville Chamberlain 62 years ago this month. I do have the sense to know that you cannot attempt to domesticate a rabid raccoon nor can you make peace with terrorists. We are not being asked to hate, Mr. Kent, only to stop those who do.
We can only hope to begin to understand a hatred that drives people to kill for the sake of killing. As tough a task as it may be, that should not stop us from trying to understand such hatred and evil.
Nor should it keep us rooted in place, waiting for the kamikazes, the gas, the microbes or whatever cowardly kick in the teeth comes next to exact its toll on the citizens of the global community before we act.
It is terrible, tragic and reprehensible enough that some members of this global community have been robbed of their religion and killed in its name. It would be worse still to disgrace their memories and the memories of countless rescue workers, men, women and children by not shouldering the responsibility of bringing murderers and conspirators to justice for their crimes. They, not the United States, are the catalysts of this violent cycle, and they must be stopped.
