My fellow Americans, I am writing to you out of my concern for the way this "War on Terrorism" is going, and I hope that my opinion is not a minority one. Like any other compassionate American, I was appalled by the attacks on Washington and New York which occurred on September 11th. On the news reports throughout that day, I saw the grief and the pain that touched us all, and since then when I have been home to watch the news, I have heard great tales of heroic acts by Americans and of a never-ending flow of blood and cash donations pouring into New York. I applaud you all for your bravery and generosity, and I understand the recent emphasis in America on unity and patriotism at this difficult time.
However, I doubt whether this notion of "unity" is really authentic or wise at all. Certainly numerous people throughout our nation have been creating serious disunity and harm through their attacks on and harassment of Arab-American people. There are wiser, level-headed souls among us, but racism and prejudice continue to mar any idealistic notion of America as a unified people. We must not be blind to our own faults.
More disturbing to me is the fact that many news media have been plastering the words "America Unified" all over their reports, and have been saying things like "liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, all people have put aside petty politics to unify behind President Bush." This is not true; however, it would not be encouraging to me if it were true. You only need to have been on my campus recently to have seen a frustrated student complaining about how Bush has been militant since day one of his presidency and has forced us into this war. You only need to have seen me arriving home after a late night of classes and spitting in outrage at my television when I hear that this military operation has been named "Infinite Justice." America is not all unified behind Bush, and many of us consider it a moral issue, not mere petty politics, to disagree with the president at this time.
It has been less than two weeks since that terrible Tuesday, and at a time when the nation should still be grieving, comforting one another, digging through the rubble, and piecing together forensic evidence, President Bush instead is talking of widespread, full-scale war. Osama Bin Laden is indeed a prime suspect in the Tuesday attacks, but he is still just a suspect. Various arrests and discoveries in several states and countries have suggested that certain Arabic persons are guilty, but as far as I have heard there is no as yet direct link to Osama Bin Laden. I'm sure the news media would happily plunge into a feeding frenzy upon such a discovery.
In America, is not a person presumed innocent until proven guilty? Proven with evidence that can hold up in a court of law, not the public theatre of gossip, hunches, and suspicion. Remember, the Oklahoma City bombing was thought at first to be committed by foreign terrorists, but the guilty party turned out to be Timothy McVeigh, and in the Olympic bombing some years ago in Atlanta, Richard Jewell was hounded unfairly as a suspect by the media. While it is likely in this case that foreign terrorists are indeed guilty of the recent attacks on America, I find it highly irrational and hypocritical of the news media and other prominent Americans to express desires to bomb a whole nation and start an international war before we know for certain which organization did this and why they are not yet claiming credit for it. Whether we understand it or not, terrorists readily and proudly give up their lives for suicide missions; they are not fearful people who would hesitate to admit what they have done.
In my belief, President Bush's actions of late speak of a premature indulgence in self-righteous anger and retribution. I have no respect for him as a president if he is unwilling to lead our nation in the calm, healing, and thoughtful manner that America so desperately needs now. He has moved so hastily to belligerent postures, that he has left many people saying "I don't want a war, but I guess we have no choice now." What happened to our right to make sense of what happened and to debate what we want as a nation? What is the use of an America surrendered to helpless obedience?
To declare war on any and all anonymous terrorists in the world is not justice. To bomb a nation full of innocent, already suffering civilians and to seem to threaten other nations who do not immediately join our campaign is repugnant and atrocious. Does Bush not realize that, whatever words he might say to discourage Americans from attacking innocent Muslims, his displays of indiscriminate hostility toward all terrorists and "all nations who harbor them" can only encourage widespread panic and racism? True justice for these horrific attacks can only be obtained through an international trial of the perpetrators by an impartial council not unduly influenced by a militant America. And arrests, let alone a trial, cannot be launched until enough time has passed to collect and fully analyze evidence.
Furthermore, America is not so innocent and ideal a nation as we like to say we are. All human beings have the capacity for evil, and must admit it. However much we'd like to shield them, children should not be taught to believe, "We did nothing to them. They hate us for no reason." Terrorists are certainly violent criminals and a great danger to many people, but they are not monsters without motives. American foreign policy has often arrogantly interfered with nations in the Middle East; often we did so with good intentions, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We have inadvertently stirred up hatred in people who feel powerless in the face of our continued interventions, and these complicated, tangled issues lie behind the attacks that recently shattered our complacency. Terrorism cannot be wiped off the face of the Earth without our first addressing the causes of terrorism. Only by eliminating the causes can the acts of violence be stopped.
I think of the lessons of history, and how in the age of imperialism, European empires claimed numerous colonies on the continents of Africa, the Americas, and Asia. They justified their conquests and intrusions on other people by claiming that they were bringing enlightenment, religion, and civilization with them. Europeans could not see the value in the indigenous way of life, nor conceive why their "benevolence" should be resisted by those native peoples who resented losing their independence. America was once one of those colonies, and we won our independence in our own violent Revolution. Now that we are a preeminent power today, America, too, is in danger of believing that its own judgments are superior to those of all other nations. We may be all-mighty, but we are not all-wise and we are not innocent. Blood is already on our hands, and we cannot wash it away by killing more.
I know at this time that most Americans naturally wish not to seem divisive and disloyal to the union, but there remains a portion of America whose opinions are not being represented in the midst of this push for "unity" behind President Bush. The notion of blind, unquestioning support of the president's every word and action just because he is the president is a kind of censorship that I did not think America would succumb to, and it frightens me. I cannot and will not trust in this militant president, and I hope you can understand this point of view. I have been assured by my friends that I am not alone in this pacifist opinion, so I reach out to you all with the hope that you might do your part to oppose the warfare and bloodshed to come. Please think of the innocent lives that will be lost. Please think of the ideals of justice that our nation must live up to. Please think of what the people on those planes and in those buildings died for. We need to stronger and bigger than petty anger and vengeance. We need to be at peace.
Huong Nguyen
huong-thu@lycos.com