The Hateful American
A new church-burning hoax.

By John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru
September 20, 2001 2:15 p.m.

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.