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Hate makes new enemies

  • Published
  • By Maj. James Coleman
  • 87th Air Base Wing Antiterrorism Office
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Several high-profile controversies were recently placed on the media buffet table for Americans to devour and fight over, especially as we circle the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks along the country's east coast. A mosque and Islamic cultural center project proposed near the former site of the World Trade Center has virtually split the country in disagreement over the location. A major news magazine asked about America's "Islamophobia" on its cover. Perhaps the smallest but most representative of these stories is the church leader who planned (but cancelled) a Koran burning to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary. Many Americans are getting swept up into a storm of fear and anger focused on a single religion, and this is a recipe for stereotyping, prejudice and violence that could move the nation's social progress backwards while increasing production of terrorist combatants for us to fight.

As members of the United States Department of Defense (military and civilian), our task is to bring military action against enemy combatants as we enforce the national security policies of our country. We try to do this through proportional response (the correct level of force applied at the right place and time) in order to convince the enemy as quickly as possible that fighting us will be too costly for them. Fighting an enemy can be an exercise in numbers as we attempt to eliminate existing resources and prevent production of more. Harassment or violence against Muslims can motivate them to become radical Muslim extremists and enter the conflict against us (this is true in and out of CONUS). In other words, our unlawful actions work against us by potentially creating more enemies.

Religious persecution is the broad category of these unlawful actions that could prolong the war, and this is a violation of the Constitution of the United States that we've sworn an oath to uphold and defend. It guarantees American citizens many rights and freedoms, and the First Amendment covers the freedom of religion ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."). This includes all religions, providing that a religious practice does not violate some other law or freedom. Denying people an opportunity to practice their faith, a critical component in many lives, can create a significant emotional response and drive people to do things they normally wouldn't. Put yourself in the shoes of American Muslims; how would you feel if your religion was regularly criticized by many people or your fellow believers were regularly spat on, beat up, or denied opportunities because of your shared beliefs? What would you do if you were regularly harassed because of your religion?

The people of this country have gone through this type of conflict before, so we've learned our lesson but may have forgotten it. The people of the world have seen this kind of prejudice before so it doesn't make sense to repeat it. Members of different religions have been killing each other over those differences for centuries. America went to war with itself over the boundaries of human rights and the limits of those rights based on skin color. That war ended but battles on the same issue continue. The U.S. Government followed a less violent version of a Nazi model and imprisoned Japanese Americans because they shared ancestry with our Axis enemy. Mistreatment of the innocent based on traits perceived as "bad" or "wrong" makes the aggressor not just wrong themselves but also self defeating.

One way to beat your enemy is to understand him better than he understands you, and another is through overwhelming numbers. One way to make and keep allies is to respect their differences and try to learn about them, which builds your numbers against your enemy. We have the freedom in this country to believe what we want and express that belief in various ways, but we do not have the freedom to deny others that same freedom.

So what do we do? We're faced with a threat using religious beliefs as its purpose, and that threat is fighting a covert war of expansion across the United States while overtly attacking our people overseas. We must continue to fight on the side of justice, equality, and freedom. We must be tolerant, if not accepting, of different belief systems unless they harm people or violate laws. We must work harder to expose the radical bad guys concealing themselves amongst the good people and trying to start a religious war. All people, even criminal suspects, are assumed innocent until proven guilty. We must learn the truth about teachings and beliefs of other cultures, and not simply swallow the spoon-fed propaganda we receive from questionable sources. Work smarter, not harder, to build a successful team, a successful country, and a successful world.