Quote from hapaboy:
So let me put it another way: Would it be unreasonable or discriminatory in any way if I start another thread specifically for Americans to discuss American viewpoints on the crisis with Iraq? I don't see how it could be, as Wild could simply start another threat titled, for example, "Wild's Viewpoints on the Iraq Crisis." Wouldn't that be fair?
Only problem I see here is how to define an "American".
Here is something most of us have probably seen circulating on the internet. But for those who haven't....or those that could use a reminder:
>You probably missed it in the rush of news in the last few weeks, but
>there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had
>published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who
>killed an American, any American.
>
>So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone
>know what an American is, so they would know when they found
>one:
>
>An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,
>Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be
>Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Canadian, Mexican,
>Brazilian, Peruvian, South African, Ethiopian, Somalian,
>Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian,
>Iranian, Arabian, Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also
>be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or
>one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
>
>An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist,
>or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in
>Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are
>free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also
>free to believe in no religion or that there is no God. For
>these questions that he will answer only to God, or his own
>conscience, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming
>to speak for the government and for God.
>
>An American is from the most prosperous land in the history
>of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the
>Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given
>right of each person to pursue happiness as he sees it.
>
>An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about
>every other nation in the world in their time of need. When
>Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago,
>Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to
>win back their country. As of the morning of September 11,
>Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in
>Afghanistan.
>
>Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best
>books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But
>they also welcome the least.
>
>The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty,
>welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of
>your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in
>fact are the people who built America. Some of them were
>working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2002
>earning a better life for their families. I've been told that
>the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other
>countries, cultures, and first languages, including those
>that aided and abetted the terrorists.
>
>So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did.
>So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every
>bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in
>doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because
>Americans are not a particular people from a particular
>place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of
>freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an
>American.
(There are many "Americans" who don't understand this too)
Peace,
rs7
