by James Glaser
October 22, 2002

You read about it all the time. People in old leaky boats trying to sail from Cuba to here. Chinese men and women are found dead in shipping containers trying to get to America. Droves of people crossing the Rio Grande in the middle of the night and then facing a long walk across the desert in a quest for freedom.

George Bush never made a more foolish statement than when he said that Terrorists hate our freedom. The quest for freedom is a basic instinct every man and woman is born with. That is why we leave home, we want to be free of the rules that our parents put on us. Americans crossed the continent looking for that special place that would give them that sense of freedom.

At one time our nation fostered the quest other people were making to be free in their own countries. We were there to help "Freedom Fighters" all across the globe. It wasn't that long ago that it was, "us against them."

"Them," was the Communist Block that would hold a country under their thumb and the laws of the Soviet Union were the law for all. That was a dark time for much of this globe and America was looked at as the country that helped others get that thing, called freedom.

The call for freedom was what gave us the victory over Russia. Every country behind the Iron Curtain is now free, maybe not perfect, but every one of those nations now have hope and that spark of freedom will keep them going in that direction.

George Bush has never understood that desire for freedom because not only has he always had it, he never had to sacrifice in any way to help others get it. George has always been one of the "haves" never one of the "have nots." People that travel or have been in the Military over seas have seen what a country without freedom is like. George Bush never traveled and he never was in the Military over seas. I think he believes others hate freedom because he does.

Any nation with freedom can not have an absolute ruler. Any nation with freedom will not tolerate a dictator.

No American President since Abraham Lincoln has shown the zest for War that George Bush the Younger has shown. Other Presidents have at least made the pretense of trying other means to solve problems. George Bush is like the playground bully calling other nations names and threatening attacks before any negotiations are offered. "You are either with us or you are with the Terrorists" If George doesn't like you, your nation is EVIL. George didn't say Saddam was evil nor the head of Iran or North Korea, no George Bush said that Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were the "axis of evil".

Leaders of nations can be evil, nations can't be evil. Calling a country evil does nothing to solve our terrorist problem. Alienating the people of a nation by putting a label on every citizen of that country does nothing to help our nation. Imagine being a citizen of Iraq, Iran, or North Korea and wanting to travel. Every time you show your passport to board a plane, they know you are Evil and must be watched and yes, hassled. Every person from those countries have some degree of national pride and by calling them names all George Bush does is build on that same hate every kid has felt for that bully on the playground. People the world over have the same personal and national pride that Americans have and if you step on that enough the hate will come out.

If we want to get back to the time when terrorist attacks never happened here we have to get back to helping those that want freedom. We will have to dump some of our "friends." No longer will America be able to back up the Kings, Dictators, and Despots of the world. No longer will we be able to sell and give away the weapons these rulers use to keep their people down. Certainly, America will no longer be able to prop up rulers with our armed forces at their beck and call.

Nations whose rulers are no longer supported by America will be working on new forms of self government. Those that have turned to terrorism as a means of attacking those too powerful for convential warfare, will be in their own home countries trying to get their brand of government installed. Third world countries have decades of work to bring themselves into the twenty first century. America can no longer be looked at as the enemy of all men looking for freedom, we must change that image.

By stopping all arm sales to other nations Americas will be a super power for a long time. Maybe long enough for all nations to start working together to make everyone free.