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 hese
are difficult days for members of the anti-American Left. At a time
of flag-waving patriotism, they're trying to channel their anti-Americanism
in ways that don't seem disrespectful of the 5,000 souls who lost
their lives to anti-American terrorism on September 11. To be sure,
they often fail at this project. Witness Susan Sontag, writing in
the current issue of The New Yorker:
"The voices
licensed to follow the event seem to have joined together in a campaign
to infantilize the public. Where is the acknowledgment that this
was not a 'cowardly' attack on 'civilization' or 'liberty' or 'humanity'
or 'the free world' but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed
superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances
and actions?"
Someday, she
may regret that quote. At least she should.
Yet there is
one way the anti-American Left can express itself in ways that don't
seem harmful to the national interest: It will suggest that hateful
Americans are now engaged in a fit of anti-Muslim violence that
is only one-step removed from certified ethnic cleansing. What's
remarkable about the days following September 11 is how little of
this there has been. One hears of broken store windows and even
a few more serious crimes — but these are the exceptions that
prove the rule. Americans are a warm and generous people, and they
have not embarked on an anti-Muslim hate crusade. In how many other
countries would this be true, after September 11? To take a few
isolated incidents and suggest we're in the midst of an epidemic
is just as bad as stereotyping every Arab American as a terrorist.
But here is
something to watch for: A new fraud perpetrated on the public, along
the lines of the church-burning phenomenon of several years ago
— when churches (usually ones with black congregations) were
said to be targets of arson at unprecedented rates. Objective observers
soon learned that this was basically not true, though the Jesse
Jacksons of the world have not repented for engaging in it.
Arab Americans
deserve the full protection of the law; those who try to hurt them
or their property should be prosecuted. But let's not kid ourselves
into thinking that we are in the midst of a national shame.
Memo
to Ambassador Simpson
"We want America to gather complete information and find the
real culprits," says Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of Afghanistan's
Taliban government.
Scout's
Honor
"Iraq has absolutely no link with what happened or with the
groups the United States accuses of being responsible," says
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in Agence France Presse
(according to USA Today).
Recommended
Reading
David Horowitz: "Barbara Lee is not an anti-war activist, she
is an anti-American communist who supports America's enemies and
has actively collaborated with them in their war against America."
For the rest — and the proof — read Horowitz's entire
column.
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