Anti-Americans
As I've said elsewhere in this daily column, I
support the free expression of anti-war sentiment,
even if I don't agree with it. Rational debate and
dissent is not only healthy, it's one of the
foremost ideals upon which this country was
founded. But freedom of speech does not make one
free to speak anything and everything imaginable.
There are limits to this right, both legal and
moral. Recently, several individuals have tested
these limits.
Peter Arnett made the news again today, instead
of just reporting it. If I can be allowed one ad
hominem attack, this man is a steaming pile of
journalistic dung. Yesterday, he appeared in an
interview on Iraq's state-run TV network,
criticizing the U.S.-led war effort. "The first
plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance," he
asserted. "Now they are trying to write another
plan." Perhaps "treason" is too strong a word, but
it wouldn't take too much of a stretch. By
participating in the production of Iraqi television
at a time when coalition forces are trying to
disable it, one might allege that Arnett provided
"aid" to the enemy. And one certainly could
characterize his contentious claims that coalition
military plans had failed as "comfort" to the enemy
(in the form of a morale boost). I don't know what
Arnett's nationality is, but if he's not American,
he shouldn't be allowed back in the country. NBC,
MSNBC and National Geographic did the right thing
today by firing him.
Last Thursday, anti-Americanism on our college
campuses reached new lows in a "teach-in" at
Columbia University in New York. There, Nicholas De
Genova, assistant professor of anthropology,
called
for the deaths of American soliders on the
scale of "millions of Mogadishus." De Genova
received rousing applause when he said, "If we
really believe that this war is criminal ... then
we have to believe in the victory of the Iraqi
people and the defeat of the U.S. war machine." His
fellow professors on the panel labeled the Bush
administration's military efforts in turns
"bullying, illegal, deceitful, corrupt and
murderous." De Genova's comments far exceed the
bounds of free speech. Advocating the large-scale
deaths of our own servicemen and women in order to
achieve one's political objectives is terrorism,
pure and simple. To contemplate that such violent
views could be condoned by an American university,
much less applauded by an audience 3,000-strong, is
truly sickening.
Debate and dissent on all issues make us
stronger as a nation. By contrasting opposing
viewpoints, we ensure all sides of an issue are
examined, hopefully leading us to the right
solution. But when such dissent crosses the line of
reason, into the nether world of violence, anarchy
and treason, it should be shunned by Americans of
every political stripe.
· · ·
For a lucid discussion of the war and related
issues by my friend Alex Hare and his partner
"Buzz," please visit the message boards at
WildHare.com.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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Previously...
3/30:
The
Next 9/11?
3/29:
Tomorrow's
Gonna Suck
3/28:
Willing
to Change
3/27:
Tropical
Memories
3/26:
Regurgitation
3/25:
Piece
of the Puzzle
3/24:
Echoes
in Eternity
3/23:
Booing
for Columbine
3/22:
Not
Recommending Diving
3/21:
Works
in Progress
3/20:
Three
Rings of Shock & Awe
3/19:
Paris—A
Beautiful Blur
3/18:
Ignorant
Idiot Man
3/17:
The
Pirate Queen
3/16:
To
War or Not to War
3/15:
So
Long, Seau
3/14:
Telemarketing
Pays
3/13:
Free,
For Now
3/12:
Chicken
Little Gets Respect
3/11:
Axis
of Evil
3/10:
Writing
Kept Me From Writing
3/9:
King
Arthur
3/8:
The
Women are Smarter
3/7:
Salt
on Old Wounds
3/6:
3/3/03,
3:33 p.m.
3/5:
Beer
Day
3/4:
Pulling
the Trigger
3/3:
Make
'Em Laugh
3/2:
Whither
Iraq?
3/1:
Strickland
Cellars
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