Joy Grow and Peter Taverna are obviously two people who care very much for humanity. They seem very passionate about the views they have expressed in their letters and should be applauded for taking the time to write, but there are certain problems in the views they express.
These writers imply the war we are fighting is simply an act of American aggression and we should keep out of the business of other countries. I wonder if Grow and Taverna actually believe this. If we allow governments such as the regime in Afghanistan to terrorize humanity, we will fail in all we hold ideal. We will fail even in those things Grow and Taverna seem to stand for, such as peace and life.
Our Declaration of Independence declares in powerful language, "All men...are endowed... with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." If this statement is true, then the citizens of Afghanistan, the Jews of Nazi Germany, and the Christians of the Sudan have as much claim to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as we do in the United States by virtue of being members of the human race.
Grow and Taverna certainly would advocate life as a basic right endowed to every human being. This is where national policy enters. The Afghan government denies these inalienable rights to the people under its rule. Should we, the most powerful political force in the world, hold some responsibility in this denial of human rights?
The Jews were denied because of their race. The Christians in Sudan are because of their faith. The Afghans are because they are subjects of an unjustifiably oppressive regime. Should we have aided the Jews? Should we aid the Christians? Should we aid the Afghan people? This fight is about more than protecting our borders or moral and political punishment (not revenge, not retaliation) for crimes against our people and our nation. These are important, but the war is also about aiding the people of Afghanistan and other terrorist states in gaining political recognition of their natural rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
If the Afghan government is right in denying its people these rights, we should leave immediately. If they are wrong, we must continue to fight for the oppressed as well as for ourselves. "To whom much is given, much will be required."
Few will speak today and even fewer will speak as passionately as these writers have. I hope this will foster intelligent discussion and be understood in the spirit it was intended: with a spirit of respect and a desire to better understand the world around us.
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