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Volume CXXXIII, Number 17 |
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Ambassador J.Lo? ... No thank you
To the Editors:
Patrick Rockefeller's column "Ambassador J.Lo" in last week's Orient illustrates a fascinating point that I'm sure the author is not even aware of. First I will quote a brief passage from Rockefeller's column: "Terror is the method of communication for Al-Qaeda and the jihadists. It is incumbent upon the United States to come up with an effective countermeasure. At times, this countermeasure is dropping food aid from B-52s even as bombs are being dropped in other places."
Now, what is fascinating is that in the same paragraph Rockefeller identifies "terror" as the "method" of "radical Islamists," but he fails to point out, probably even to recognize himself, that dropping bombs also constitutes "terror." For example, if you see your spouse or your child blown apart by an American bomb, the first sentiment you feel is one of terror, because you have in fact been terrorized. The "war on terror" is terror. Yet we live in a society in which terror is something "they" do, the inverse is patently unthinkable and, dare I say, unpatriotic to suggest.
Rockefeller ponders "why they hate us" without recognizing that the answer lies in the very words he has composed. They hate us because we are hypocrites, because while we talk about how good we are ourselves, our government has either perpetrated or indirectly assisted in numerous terrorist atrocities, far more than the independent "Islamists" (remember, they used to be our allies). America is guilty of perpetrating or supporting terror and terrorism in Indonesia, Cambodia, Central America, and Palestine, among others. All the while we talk about freedom and democracy, which are no more than code words for doing what American elites want.
Public diplomacy-what Rockefeller suggests-does not address the real issue. Those who know what is really going on will never be fooled by J. Lo. We must change our ways, first by apologizing for the past and then by renouncing claims to "world leadership." The only way to no longer be hated is to stop bullying people and give up forcing others to do what is against their interests.
Sincerely,
Ashby Crowder '04
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