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An open letter to a Peacenik
By Justin Byma
Published:
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Justin Byma --- Staff Column
Dear John Q. Peacenik,
I saw you the other day among the crowd on the Atwood Mall. Along with your friends, you were carrying a sign that read, "Bush is a terrorist." That was the most absurd thing I have ever seen. Do you really believe that President George W. Bush, the leader of the free world, is a terrorist?
Rubbish.
Today, we fight a war against terrorism. There is no gray area in this fight, no middle ground. One is either against terrorism or for it.
I am not trying to question your patriotism. Nevertheless, do not make the false assumption that I agree with your claims of patriotism, for I do not. What I am questioning, however, are your values.
The "war on Iraq" is not a war on the people of Iraq, but a war on a tyrannous despot who has murdered his own people.
You seem to think that the U.S. military, and the Commander-in-Chief in particular, wishes to systematically kill any Iraqi citizen in our path. That, my friend, is false.
Thus, by pronouncing your objection to the war, you are objectively pro-terrorist. You prefer to appease the terrorists rather than bring them to justice. You have surrendered to the terrorists and ceded your freedom. Your values are those of a terrorist.
Yours is a policy of appeasement. Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, you wager that giving in to the their wants will bring about peace. As the fellows at National Review say, one is either pro-appeasement or anti-appeasement. (This provides greater transparency than the standard pro-war/anti-war labels; inasmuch as no reasonable person supports unfettered war.) Thus, if you support appeasement, then you endorse surrender and you have let them win. You are giving Hitler Czechoslovakia.
Have you thought about the people you are supporting? These quasi-religious reactionaries hate freedom. A good liberal like you should be appalled by the cultural situation in the parts of the world where these maniacs are in charge. Yet, instead of protesting the treatment of women, gays, or religious minorities in the rouge states like Iraq, you protest a President who wishes to bring stability and freedom to the Middle East. Whose side are you on?
James Madison said, "Every man who loves peace… who loves his country … who loves liberty ought to have it ever before his eyes that he may cherish in his heart a due attachment to the Union of America and be able to set a due value on the means of preserving it."
Do you love peace? Do you love your country? Do you love liberty? If so, put down your sign and join the fight.
