Posted on 09/18/2001 1:15:18 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
We have always been at war with Eurasia.
Try checking a newspaper or the TV. It's been all over the place.
We all need to be somewhat careful. Not just of unwarranted attacks against innocent Muslims, but also careful of attacks agsinst us.
My daughter is studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Several of her female classmates were subjected to harrassment by an Italian, who then threatened them with a broken bottle, screaming anti-American slogans.
There is a lot of hatred out there, and the events of last Tuesday have seen them break out into the open.
It's unfortunate that good Americans of ME descent are looking over their shoulders and hesitate to go out in public in many places across this country.
We adopted a student through the university. She is a Muslim from Turkey. I guess I'm the enemy now.
Well said.
What I am turning over in my mind, is: Should we deport Afghans in our country who are not citizens, as a precaution? It sounds like a horribly harsh idea, and I don't claim to know whether it is a good idea or not. But for safety's sake, it has occurred to me. We are in terrible times when good people contemplate such ideas for legitimate safety reasons. It is tearing me up to think it might come to this.
I'm not usually "gung-ho" on deporting even illegal aliens, as long as they are working and behaving like we'd like citizens to (the Bush philosophy). But there are terrorist "cell" groups everywhere, disconnected from their main body and ready to wreak havoc. How can lessen that risk?
There are solutions and tactics we could use that might seem ugly. To protect ourselves, we must humanely find ways that isolate the people who pose the most obvious risks, and "defuse" any future efforts. It can't be a racial, religious, or bigoted thing. It can't be irrational or out of hate or ignorance. I don't hate Afghanis, or Muslims, or even Bin Laden himself. I just want a real threat removed -- a threat to the entire world.
But I do think a lot of people should be carefully identified and watched right now -- and the possibility of deporting people should be seriously weighed. Very sad, and not spoken with even a bit of joy.
Still in Manhattan and being less,
No decent person of any political or religious stripe can support harming, killing, or intimidating the innocent along with the guilty.
We need to set the example of why America is a "shining city on a hill," and a beacon to people looking for a better way of living.
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