9/26/01 

America is rushing blindly into a war of its own creation
By Michael Klitzing, DAILY AZTEC

There was a diverse array of people. Students and the
elderly. Socialists and Christian clergy. But the message
of the 400 or so gathered at Horton Plaza on Saturday was
the same -- we must strive for peace. 

Judging from the latest public opinion polls, it is not a
popular view. By and large, Americans are demanding
vengeance for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, 
Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Recent figures in 
The San Diego Union Tribune showed that 88 percent 
of Americans favored military action. 

It is an overwhelming majority. It is also a vocal majority.

As the demonstration continued, a middle-aged man
wearing red, white and blue and an indignant expression
on his face approached the throng on the street corner. 

"You people should be ashamed of yourselves," he yelled.
"Don't you care about the people who died?" 

Another, more concise, gentleman simply flipped off the
protesters from across the street. 

The reaction is certainly understandable. The prevailing
attitude these days seems to be that those against war are
un-American -- even pro-terrorism. 

Why shouldn't they believe it? According to our
government, we have done nothing to provoke the horrific
attacks of two weeks ago. The mainstream press bought
into this fiction. They continue to treat the issue of why the
attacks took place as if it were some sort of mystery.
Some pundits have even given credence to President
Bush's asinine assertion that we were attacked because the
terrorists hate freedom. 

If only the world was such a simple place. 

The United States was not attacked because of our shining
ideals of democracy and equality. We were attacked
because, as a nation, we have also committed acts of
terrorism. However, our terrorism is given a more
dignified title -- foreign policy. 

In order to understand the horrible tragedies we have
witnessed, we must first take responsibility for our own
sins. And since the end of World War II, there have been
many. 

We have overthrown elected governments and propped up
brutal dictators in Iran. We have killed thousands of Iraqi
civilians with indiscriminate bombings and harsh
sanctions. As recently as 1998, we killed Afghani
civilians with cruise missiles in an attempt to assassinate
Osama bin Laden. 

Many in the Arab world hate us because we have given
them ample reason. We have killed innocent civilians in
the name of "stabilizing the region" -- a euphemism for
protecting oil interests. 

That is where our priorities have been. The oil supply is
more important than lives. So is it any wonder that these
fanatical, anti-American terrorist organizations have come
to prominence? Degraded and demoralized people are
often open to messages of hate. 

And now, this horrible, hateful monster that we are
responsible for creating has turned on us. These people
have witnessed our atrocities and they have demanded our
blood. 

And they got just that. 

The terrorists committed their horrible acts against the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- buildings they
viewed as symbols of oppression. But as we all know,
these buildings were more than symbols. They were
occupied by thousands of innocent people -- fathers and
mothers, sisters and brothers. 

But it did not matter to the terrorists. Their blatant
disregard for human life is certainly appalling. But don't
think for a minute that our country is above it. 

When Americans think of war, we often think of the CNN
footage of "smart bombs" and surgical air strikes. We
remember the press conference held by General
Schwarzkopf in 1991 showing the destruction of a bridge,
only after an Iraqi motorist had safely crossed. 

These are modern wars, we are told. Only the bad guys
die. 

But General Schwarzkopf did not show us the collateral
damage. He did not show us footage of the destruction of
an air-raid shelter in Baghdad that incinerated about 400
civilians. 

So, as strikes against the Taliban are imminent, we must
ask: Who will be killed by these strikes? Some terrorists,
perhaps. But mostly, it will mirror what we saw with our
own eyes on Sept. 11. 

Innocent people -- fathers and mothers, sisters and
brothers -- killed in yet another act of vengeance. 

Two weeks ago it was New York and Washington, D.C.
Now it will be Kabul. Who will be next? Will the
families of the innocent slain in Afghanistan not demand
vengeance? 

What difference have revenge killings made in Israel or
Northern Ireland or South Central Los Angeles? Over and
over, humanity constantly proves what was so eloquently
stated by Mahatma Gandhi: "An eye for an eye makes the
world go blind." 

-- Michael Klitzing is a history sophomore and an
assistant sports editor of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mails to
letters@thedailyaztec.com 

-- This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of
The Daily Aztec.