I am not exactly the most patriotic American citizen. I remember when I saw the twin towers in NYC come crashing down, I thought to myself, "OK, Empire America will now begin to drop small mushroom clouds all over the Middle East." Only, America did not. Instead, the first month of this "new war" focused on the firefighters who died trying to save foreigners and citizens trapped in the towers. Instead of mob parades burning Afghani flags and bin Ladens in effigy, there was an unprecedented Red Cross blood drive and fund donations for the victims and their families. Meanwhile, the President publicly denounced all forms of racism against peace-loving Muslim-Americans. The bin Laden forces responded with anthrax sent to post offices and television stations. While all this was happening, the American government tolerated various rallies across college campuses that denounced American policy and the American will to fight back. I even heard one student protester give a speech on how America deserved to get hurt like this. Only in America would we allow someone to freely express such sentiments in this time. Oddly, in these kinds of ways, it has been a fine hour for America. Are some things worth fighting for?
The American government is currently directing a more honorable ground attack standing-fight with the Taliban government and it has appealed to the U.N. for resolutions concerning Israel-Palestine. Why do I call the American ground attack more honorable? I do consider it dishonorable for an opponent to strike at unarmed, defenseless citizens, including women and children on airplanes, and then run for cover while claiming to be truly religious. Am I blowing this out of proportion? Is bin Laden actually just a nice guy, a regular Joe?
Bin Laden has called Taliban-led Afghanistan "the only true Muslim state." There is (foreign) evidence that the government engages in forced oppression of its citizens, with the use of torture and imprisonment of dissidents, or "infidels," without trial. They have put a ban on women being allowed to enroll in schools, and today, schools enrolling women are considered illegal. If caught, women are taken to the public sports stadium where they are shot at point-blank range in front of the citizenry. The Koran is an honorable text. It has commandment laws that read, "Never kill a woman. Never kill a child. Never destroy a building. Never destroy a tree with a green leaf on it." If the Taliban and the planners of the Sept. 11 attack claim to be true Muslims, they have broken at least two of their own commandments while believing themselves to be devout.
The nation of Israel was founded after WWII to give a permanent home to a group of people that seemed to be dogged everywhere they were a minority. While the Israelis are not completely blameless in their conflicts with the PLO, they do not carry the entire blame either. Should the pluralistic WWII legacy of Israel be defended, and if so, is it our responsibility to do so? Conversely, should the resolve of America be defended?
The prospects of combat with the bin Laden team have stirred up comparisons with the Vietnam War. I remember the film "The Deer Hunter," in which the working-class American soldiers are asked to resolve a stormy Vietnam situation for their country. I wonder what it was like to be a Vietnam veteran, to go from small-town America into the cauldron of Vietnam, only to return to a country whose upper-class, well-educated youth mocked you for fighting for something you didn't understand, and whose older generation despised you for not bringing home a victory. If this does turn out like Vietnam, and we students choose to carry out protests instead of fighting, at the very least, this time around, let's not pick on the veterans who return home defeated.
These last few weeks, I've read editorials in "The D" that asked questions like, "Why should these times ban us from being unpatriotic? Why can't I still be cynical towards America? Why the hell should I have to support American businesses?" As a consumer, you can buy whatever you want in America. You can freely hate America in America if that is what you want to do. That is your right. Would you fight to defend that right?
Only in America will the worst of criminals still get a fair trial. Only in America will the government declare a national holiday for a man who fought against the government's evils (Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.). This is advanced citizenship and a tough and truer freedom. America itself is the only country to have been born in revolution and flourish so greatly. This success comes from the foresight of its founding fathers in establishing a government based on democracy, an open-ended constitution and intellectual freedom. Because I'm not exactly a great fighter and I am sincerely scared of fighting, I earnestly hope that a peaceful, diplomatic, U.N. resolution is found and that America's enemies in this new millennium stop attacking its citizens with civilian airplanes and anthrax. I'm not the strongest Indian-American kid, and I'm not exactly an ace in warfare, but I think it's worth it for me to try to fight, if the United States needs me to fight.
