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I am having difficulty trying to understand the evident hatred of America among some people sympathetic to the Arab world, and seek to present to you a Western perspective on the current situation. Forgive me if I use the terms Islamic, Muslim and Arab interchangeably. I am not aware of all the distinctions between Middle-Easterners. No offense intended. In the words of Washington Times editor, Wesley Pruden: "This war began long before Sept. 11. Islamist militants, if not necessarily Islamic militants, murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics nearly 30 years ago, and since then we've seen the attempted murder of the pope by a Turkish militant, the Libyan plot that brought down Pan Am 103 over Scotland, the massacre of U.S. Marines in Lebanon, the bombing of a nightclub in Germany and a U.S. military barracks in Saudi Arabia, a deadly ambush in Somalia, the attack on the USS Cole, and finally the unspeakable horrors of Sept. 11, all done in the name of Islam. These atrocities were counterpoints to Muslim wars against Christians in half a dozen African countries." And now your people may be implicated in the Anthrax attacks. Neither West nor East can claim our cultures are perfect. I'll grant that some Islamic complaints against Western culture are legitimate. Admittedly, a minority of Westerners are decadent even by non-prudish standards, but not all of us are. Like the Augean Stables, our entertainment and advertisements do need to be cleaned up, but bin Ladin is no Hercules - more of a deluded Rasputin. Our last president was an example of Western degradation, and I must admit worthy of your disdain. Many people here were seduced, figuratively if not literally, by him. He is irredeemably out of favor with the intelligents here (note: I do not consider left wing academics to be the intelligents). Our militant feminists are the equivalent of the Taliban, though with diametrically opposite philosophies - matriarchy vs patriarchy - and no less dangerous, if relatively more subtle. Some here consider the homosexual perversion an "alternate lifestyle," but we aren't barbaric enough to behead them. Righteous Mid-Easterners should be strong enough to ignore our failings, not be influenced by them or murder our innocent countrymen because of them. Many Mid-Easterners object to our interest in profits. Money is not evil; dishonesty in its accumulation is. Some of us are dishonest, but probably no more of us than of Arabs, perhaps fewer. I suggest that any who object to the U.S. dollar as the international monetary standard seek a return to the gold standard - lawfully. Islamic/Muslim schools mandate religion, while ours ban it. I don't know which is worse. Do Muslims consider women to be inferior to men? If so, why? If what these fanatics are doing is "religious," then their religion is fundamentally flawed. Another rationalization for the jihad is the presence of Westerners on Arab soil. We haven't objected to the large Arab presence on ours - not yet, and not violently. Is Arab soil more sacred than ours? That opinion seems arrogant. There would be no need for U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia if Saddam Hussein et al behaved in a civilized manner. It should be the responsibility of all righteous Arab people to not only disassociate from rabid fanatics in their midst, but to help root them out. They failed to do so; now we must undertake this task in order to preserve civilization itself. Don't confuse insanity with sainthood. I have no sympathy for the pretense that Osama bin Laden and his fanatic ilk, when properly punished, will be "martyrs." They created 5,000 martyrs here just in one day - innocent ones. The expectation of 72 virgins awaiting suicide bombers in the next life is just the pornographic fantasy of some sick old mind. We respect the essence of your religion, but reject the notion that is superior to ours. Surely mainstream Islamism doesn't subscribe to convoluted logic that rationalizes evil as good, although it does appear that the premise in some circles seems to have shifted from salvation to aggressively political propagation and indiscriminate murder. Rather than competing with other religions, Islam should be cooperating with them - to their mutual end: saving souls. Spokesmen blaming Jews for the heinous Trade Center attacks are beyond incredible. Decent Islamic people must be ashamed and embarrassed by them and by the atrocities committed purportedly with the blessing of their religion, and should be in the forefront of rooting out the crazies. According to Salman Rushdie, an Iraqi satirist penned, the following: "The disease that is in us, is from us." It would appear that the real motivations of your religious extremists are fear, irrational hatred - especially of Jews, and sheer envy of the fruits of Western civilization - all masquerading as religion. This seems deceitful and a perversion of Islam. Allah is good, and would never condone mass murder. Indeed I believe He will severely punish its perpetrators. Arabians could be as well off as Westerners, with attitude changes, education, a stronger work ethic, and the ability to face reality. The Jews and Qataris have many of these qualities; why haven't the majority of Arabs developed them? Why are there no Afghani Tolstoys or Iraqi Einsteins? The only Persian genius I'm aware of is Omar Khayyam who died in 1122. Self-improvement is preferable to trying to drag Western civilization down to medieval levels, and is much more honorable than envy. Some rebellious forces have legitimate claims against occupying armies; the Tibetans and Uighurs in and West of China and the IRA in Ireland come to mind. Likewise, the Jews have a legitimate, historic claim to their territory. The difference is they have realized their claim. Al Qaeda operatives here sneak around fearful of discovery, and in Afghanistan scurry from cave to hideout like rats in sewers, pursued even by rational Arab governments. Yet, our citizens lie relatively safe in their beds at night, So who is winning? Certainly not Al Qaeda. The so-called terrorists have inadvertently done my country a favor; they have drawn us closer together and caused America-haters, external and internal (the latter are self-haters, actually), to reveal themselves for what they are. The naivete of our own pacifists and assorted leftists - Islam's useful idiots - has been exposed. We had fallen victim to a mod/lib mishmash of political correctness and "multiculturalism." As Mayor Giuliani said, "There is no room for neutrality." "Thankfully, our military is rebuilding after years of neglect. The need for a missile defense shield has become evident. The Iraqi threat must be neutralized. We will deprive our enemies of much of their revenue by tapping more of our own oil in Alaska, at risk of insulting the caribou ("greenies" actually) for a few years, and by developing energy alternatives. Airline pilots will be armed, a long overdue measure. "Profiling" will be recognized as commonsense. We will be more careful about who we let into this country - and who gets to stay. Deportations can and should be expected. We must and will regain our old sense of purpose, unity and - yes - patriotism. As a young man, I detested the saying: "America, love it or leave it." Now, at age 71, it makes a lot of sense. We are not "terrorized;" we are angry - justifiably so. Angry enough to mount a modern "Crusade" against this evil. The Marines at Tripoli knew how to deal with Barbary Coast pirates - and still do. Pious denunciations of "revenge" are no longer fashionable. Revenge is precisely what is needed, provided its aim is accurate. Like naughty children, some countries need to be spanked. If militant extremists want war, war they will get. A war they will lose - terribly. You know we have the capability of blowing your countries off the face of the earth, and some here are beginning to like the idea. I suggest you don't push them much further. As the poet said, "East is East and West is West, and never the Twain shall meet." I have no problem with that. Let's each stay on our own sides. We prefer to live in peace with Arab people, not interfering with each other. I pray - to the same God you do - that decent people of all faiths wherever they live will learn to distinguish good from evil, and pursue the former. Peace and good will be with you,
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