It seems like the McCarthy era all over again. About fifty[ five years ago Communism was spreading rapidly, threatening to engulf the entire United States. Cells were everywhere and they were full of Reds determined to destroy our nation. That's what Senator Joe McCarthy of the House Un-American Activities Committee would have had us believe. A colorful personality, he led a spirited campaign against these suspects and in so doing, ruined the reputations and, in some cases, the lives of a great many innocent people. It was the second Red Scare--the first had followed WWI when Lenin and the Bolshviks overwhelmed Russia and the Soviet Union was born. In the fifties, a menacing Red lurked behind every bush. Today not Reds but Islamic terrorists are everywhere and Muslims in general, are dangerous. Some whisper that President Obama is a Muslim and therefore not to be trusted. It's an unhealthy situation. McCarthy's foundation-less house of cards fell apart after the words "Mr. McCarthy, have you no shame?" were spoken. What will happen in the present case is anyone's guess.
In this new century, although the United States is wary of Russia, it is a religion that has the nation on edge. Since that horrifying day, nine years ago when mainland United States, protected by two great oceans and considering itself almost impregnable, suffered the attack from the air so sudden, so violent,
and so tremendous in scope that the entire country was paralyzed in shocked disbelief. If the perpetrators had succeeded in accomplishing their planned mission and had destroyed the White House and the whole Pentagon, it would have been much more cataclysmic. The radical Islamic group Al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden proudly took credit for the onslaught. As FDR said of Pearl Harbor, it was "a day that will live in infamy". In 1941 the American took revenge on the overseas enemy by shipping thousands of innocent Japanese-Americans off to interment camps. Unable to take direct revenge on bin Laden and Al Qaeda,
Americans are venting their rage and resentment against Muslims who are being called incipient terrorists. This is not a witch hunt like McCarthy's but there is a resemblance. Any believer in the Islamic faith can be suspected of plotting terrorism. Allen West, GOP candidate in Florida's 22nd district, called Islam "a very vile and vicious enemy". Some days ago the minister of a Christian church wanted to have a public burning of the Koran. The planned building of an Islamic cultural center near, nor on Ground Zero, has aroused furious opposition as being a sacrilege and has become a cause celebre.
On the other side of the world, in Afghanistan, U.S. and Nato forces have been fighting and dying for almost nine weary years as a result of the destruction or the World Trade Center in New York on that never-to-be-forgotten September morning. The hoped for capture of bin Laden and other Al Qaeda strongmen, the routing of the Taliban have not been achieved. It is possible that these could have been if W[orst] had deployed troops here instead of outrageously using them to invade Iraq. Afghanistan is a country where Islamic faith predominates and most natives are pious believers in it. The invading forces are eager to win the hearts and minds of these people while in their own countries, the U.S. in particular, their fellow Muslims are not only being discriminated against and reviled but almost persecuted. The hearts and minds of devout Muslims will never be won when they hear that their holy Koran could be burnt. This would be as sacrilegious to them as the burning of the Bible to evangelical Christians. The rabid anti-Muslimism in the U.S. works against its own troops, among whom are many believers in Islam. The categorizing of an immense number of American citizens as plotters and evil-doers ought to stop before it creates more damage. Unfortunately, unthinking, narrow-minded people often for political reasons, maintain their unhealthy attitude. Only when they cease to, will this particular cancer be cured.