My country right or wrong

Submitted by Michael (United States), Jul 9, 2008 at 10:02

Yes, I'm an American. But I demand more proof of good faith on the part of my government than do many among us. For instance, it was neither the government nor the people of Afghanistan OR Iraq who bombed us on 9/11. It was a tiny cabal of radical terrorists, allied philosophically and perhaps even operationally with OBL.

As it turns out, they were Saudis operating out of Hamburg. Yet we determined not to invade either Saudi Arabia or Germany. It is also the case that when we demanded of the Taliban government of Afghanistan that they hand OBL over to us, their ambassador, Mullah Zaeef, indicated he would do so if we tendered evidence indicating his complicity in the crime. Which, I will remind you, is standard procedure for any nation on earth in an extradition proceeding.

Had OBL instead been living in Canada, Canada's response would have been the same. But that's not what we wanted to hear. So we invaded Afghanistan with the intent to overthrow its government on the pretext that they were somehow "behind" 9/11. And proceeded, on wholly fabricated grounds, to accuse Iraq of complicity and invade them as well. Which is monstrous subterfuge and mendacity. I'm not the kind of person who says "My country, right or wrong." If we're in the right I will support our actions. But this time around, I don't. Those people we consider to be unlawful combatants, terrorists and insurgents inside the two countries in question are only doing exactly what I would do here at home, if some foreign power were to occupy my country. And I trust you would do the same.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".