Times tell tales. They expose how people think, feel, and view the world. Yet no one in this country can take a true measure of September 11th because nothing like that has ever happened here. Atrocities in Rwanda and Bosnia approach this violence, although it's doubtful that 3,000 people were slaughtered there within a 90-minute period.
Retrospection provides an interesting peek into others' psyches. An emerging view is that the U.S. is responsible for this calamity. Domestic peaceniks and foreign nationals abroad, in the streets and editorial pages, attribute terrorist acts to U.S. policy.
I listen to such utterances and am dumbstruck, after I stop laughing with derision. I may not be as idealist as some, but I've got a pretty good utopian streak in me, too. We all do. We all want peace, love, joy, happiness, health, prosperity. We all know that those commodities are in very short supply in many places in the world. We all ache thinking about it and our hearts break for these people. But most of us realize, upon reflection, that where such poverty and depravity exist, it can't always be fixed -- by us or anyone.
Be advised. The U.S. will lose the war of words and ideas as it responds to terrorism. Forget that it is a necessary self-defensive, offensive maneuver. Forget that others will benefit from our courageous actions because fewer will roam this earth and inflict harm. Just forget it.
People ask why "they" hate us? Who are "they?" Does it matter? The question is rhetorical, although many think that if the U.S. changes policy the world will be right again.
Terrorists won't stop if we capitulate. They'll intensify. Idealists who believe that these evildoers (thanks for the word President Bush) will cease and desist once our country "gets it," i.e., understands their position and changes our behavior accordingly, probably also think a rattlesnake won't bite if they talk nicely to it.
It's in the nature of such people to be cruel and criminal. Failure to recognize that jeopardizes our security and very lives. People will immediately and firmly either accept or reject that premise. Whatever I may say, or others far more articulate, will matter not. Real life and demonstrated human behavior count for nothing with some people.
A prime example of deluded thinking is this: a gent on the radio, while paying mere lip service to 3,000 lives lost in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, instructed listeners that 3,000 Iraqi children die monthly because of U.S. sanctions against kind-hearted Saddam Hussein.
OK. He didn't say kind-hearted. He didn't mentioned Saddam at all. In his mind, our steps to sanction a known sociopath were irrelevant. We were the ones taking food out of children's mouths. It couldn't be Saddam who's choosing that and blaming it on our policies, could it?
Folks using U.S. policy as a justification to explain inexplicable terror and violence are undoubtedly the same ones who have no view, or a totally warp view, of the concept of responsibility. Someone else "causes" me to act. It's not I. It's they or he or she. See, they did it again. They deserve this. It's their fault.
Let's make this a little more real. I'm driving down the road. Some guy cuts me off and scares the daylights out of my kids. My response? I'm mad, real mad, and would love to ring this creature's neck. What if I do? Would the sheriff understand? Would the justice system favor me over the offending driver?
As absurd as this road rage example is, it doesn't begin to parallel what transpired on September 11th. What if I thought that the U.S. justice system were to blame for not eradicating such rascals from our highways? To show my disgust, should I blow up an urban high school with thousands of students because some of them may perpetuate hideous driving practices?
Would anyone accept this logic? Would anyone validate my means of redressing grievances? But many are doing just that in asking the U.S. to review its policies. Governments constantly review and refine policies, so terrorist action changes nothing -- in real life. It's just that some won't ever agree with these policies. I understand that. But should people deal with the outcome or lash out against it? Should I even have to ask such a question?
We'll lose the war of words. Many will continue to hate us. They'll hate because we're strong, successful, and prosperous. They'll hate because our freedom often results in behaviors and mores they hate. They'll hate because we don't do enough for them.
But most important, they'll hate because they neither understand what they must do for themselves nor what is their own civil responsibility.
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Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 790 words.
© 2001