Written in 2002
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Patriotism AND EvolutionBy Joe Mazza There is a balance out there somewhere, somewhere in amidst the battle cry for justice and the peace marches. Somewhere among the grief, shock, fear and anger of our nation over the horrific events of September 11th, and the fear and suffering of millions of Afghan refugees fleeing for their lives, not from the Taliban, but from the bombs being dropped by the U.S. in the war on terrorism. There has to be a balance somewhere. Those screaming for peace must be allowed to do so with out being accused of being unpatriotic and defending the actions of terrorists and those screaming for justice must have their voice with out being labeled as warmongers. Somewhere in between the far left and right is a middle ground of reason where patriotism is allowed to evolve. On September 11 th over five thousand innocent people were killed in an unprovoked act of war. Some may take exception to the term “act of war”, calling it instead, “a criminal act”, but the fact is, years ago Osama bin Laden openly declared war on the United States and since then has been bombing our military and embassies over seas. He rejoiced at the deaths of six thousand innocent people who died in the attacks on September 11 and is trying to enlist the millions of Muslims around the world to join his Jihad, his holy war on the U.S. So I think act of war is a fair and accurate description that event. With the exception of Iraq, most of the world has formed a coalition and declared war on terrorism. While the United States may be leading the charge, our actions are fully supported by the governments of The United Nations, NATO, European Union and the Organization of American States. In fact, NATO countries will be participating militarily in this war and even the Organization of Arab states have condemned the attacks and agree we must come together to defeat terror. After being presented with the evidence, conservatively, ninety percent of the world governments, if not the people have expressed support for a war on terrorism. There is no doubt among all points of view that SOMETHING must be done. There is convincing evidence that terrorist organizations have biological weapons and if they don't have them now, will soon have tactical nuclear weapons. The former Soviet Union is missing a few dozen suitcase sized nuclear bombs. Al Qaeda has made it clear that they will continue to attack western countries, specifically the U.S. until we pull out of the Middle East completely. Al Qaeda has pledged to exterminate Israel and return that land to the Palestinians. I agree that we cannot give in to terrorist ever. In the weeks after the attacks of September 11, I was filled with comfort and pride at the sight of the American flag. On cars and houses, buildings, t-shirts and ties the American flag was proudly displayed. Americans came together in an unprecedented way to show support and unity. We gave buckets of blood and over a billion dollars to charities that assist those affected by the attacks. We came together to condemn acts of violence towards our Arab and Muslim citizens. It even seemed like people on the street were being a little kinder to each other. Our newfound sense of patriotism has taken a country divided over the controversial election of President Bush and caused most of us to rally around him. The democratic and republican members of congress are, so far, coming together like never before, putting aside petty differences and doing the job the people elected them to do. I was even more touched by the outpouring of support from around the world. An astounding display of support in England as the American nation anthem was played at Buckingham palace during the changing of the guard. Flowers and candles were placed at our embassies in dozens of countries. The world seemed to put its collective arm around America and wept with us during our time of great loss. But as the healing continues and we as Americans begin to awaken from our mourning we find ourselves in a very different world. This event did not touch only America, but we can now see the ripple effect it's had around the world. Americans are now awake. We are now at war. Webster's defines patriotism : a devotion or love for ones country . We have experienced the wonderful unifying effect of that love and devotion here in America, but there is also tendency to want to break this conflict down into the simplest terms. The President is very fond of using the word “Evil”. Calling terrorists “Evil-doers” and describing this war as a war between “Good and Evil”. He has even gone as far as saying that the terrorists hate us because of our “goodness”. I don't know about you, but that kind of talk makes me cringe. I believe I've heard the same rhetoric coming from Osama bin Laden when he called for his Holy war. I know of no instance in history where conflict was caused by one nations shinning goodness. The conflict we now find ourselves in is complicated and to try and explain it away in such simple and naïve terms seems a bit misguided. We are the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. This great nation was the birthplace of democracy, the industrial revolution and now the age of information. Are we truly taking advantage of all the information available to us so we can make informed opinions about the events taking place around the world, or are we relying on the sound bites we get from CNN or the patriotic speeches we hear from our government officials. How many of us have truly searched for ways to understand the complex problems in the Middle East? How many Americans know that newspapers around the world can be found on the Internet and in most cases translated into English? While you may not agree with the contents of those newspapers, they do offer a glimpse into the hearts of the counties that print them. Have we truly done all we can to become educated and enlightened Americans who are part of a world community? I don't believe educating ourselves would undermine our resolve to address the crisis we now face and our determination to eradicate terrorism. It might perhaps allow us a closer look at our policies in the Middle East and realize that in ADDITION to crushing al Qaeda, we might want to address the source of hatred towards America. One action does not threaten another. Self-reflection does not change the fact that those responsible for the attacks on September 11 should and will be hunted down. But until we address the roots of terrorism, we will always be hunting down an Osama bin Laden. There are Millions of Muslims in the Middle East who are willing to die to fight the U.S. You can explain a certain percentage of them away by calling them extremists, but not the majority. Is our love and devotion for our country so fragile that it can't withstand self-reflection? True and unconditional love is not blind. Perhaps true devotion for our country also means wanting this great nation to evolve. Americans have been given a gift, a great opportunity to grow out of our tragedy. Perhaps true patriotism allows us to be united not only in our search for justice, but empowers us as Americans to grow. There is a middle ground, a place were all points of view could meet. We can and must fight terrorism, AND we must not do so blind to the repercussions of our actions. We are a great and generous nation who stands for freedom, AND the weapons we supply to other governments are used to crush the freedom of others. We give more aid to other nations than any other country on earth, AND most of that aid is in the form of weapons. We also donate more food and relief aid to other nations than any country AND we are only one fifth of the world's population using one third of the world's resources. The spirit of our people, the pride we feel in our country and the honest and true love we feel for others does shine through. We are indeed a great nation AND we have failed to take a consistent stand on injustice around the world when it does not serve our own self-interests. If we were to eliminate all dependence on foreign oil, our noble intentions of freedom and equality for all people might not be at odds with our “self interests”. If we were to aggressively pursue alternate forms of energy we might be able to reach an agreement with other nations on matters of the environment with out jeopardizing our self-interests. If we were to limit our support for other governments to food and humanitarian relief we may not see our weapons in the hands of oppressors who use them to kill other people. If we eliminate the huge amounts of debt that we hold over other countries, perhaps those governments might be able to restore some sense of pride and peace. Make no mistake, terrorism in any form must be eliminated, but unless we begin to address the fertile ground of powerlessness and despair that allows it to grow, it will keep on springing up. We did not bring the events of September 11 th upon ourselves, AND if we are committed to making sure they don't happened again we must add to our list of weapons in our war on terrorism; a long patriotic look at ourselves. I don't pretend that there are simple solutions to such a complex problem, but we must begin to see that our actions here in the United States do affect everyone on the planet in some way. We must stand united against those who are trying to do us harm AND we must begin to evolve. Patriotism is not just displaying the American flag, but out of love and devotion for our country, it's also desire for us to do better. Patriotism is not just the phrase “God Bless America”. For some it means, “God bless America, AND guide us to a greater understanding of not only who we are, but who we can and must become.”
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