By Ben Hoff

Guest Writer

The United States has declared war against the world. All those who do not support us, we claim, support the enemy.

Taking advantage of a national tragedy, America has coerced other nations into blind support for action that has simplistically been called a war against terrorism. The government has rallied people into believing the current situation to be a matter of good and evil, black and white. However, many countries not involved in any terrorist activity are not in total agreement over what must be done. This declaration of war, which could encompass any nation America sees fit, paints this country to be bent on domination and definitely not on peace.

Terrorism is a latent enemy that may rear its head in any part of the world, among any people. We will not win a war against this enemy unless there is an attempt to relieve the hate that is directed against the United States by many nations of the world. Some claim that this hate is directed at Western culture in general and is part of a religious system that we cannot change. Yet recent terrorist attacks have all been injustices directed at the U.S. and not other Western countries (Canada, Europe, etc.). It is specifically American injustices that have attracted the ill feelings of so many people.

Much talk has focused on protecting the principle upon which this country is based - namely freedom - and the necessity of other countries to adopt this seemingly infallible principle. We must be careful in defining freedom if it is to be inflicted on countries that have different beliefs and cultural backgrounds than our own.

The freedom that America touts is not freedom to walk down safe streets, freedom to have equal access to education and opportunity or freedom to breathe clean air, and it is most definitely is not freedom for all citizens of countries enslaved to foreign ``aid'' and political domination. In fact, a major tenet of American ``freedom'' is the idea that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty, something that has been quite overlooked the past couple of weeks. Before we decide what cultural and social values are most important for other countries, we may want to consider which values we really uphold.

America has not learned the most important lesson that this tragedy had to offer. Instead of evaluating its role in international relations (a role that made the United States a target for these attacks), it has stepped up its domination to a global extreme. Forcing all nations to blindly follow its vengeful plans or face severe consequences, America has shown itself to be even more brutal than the nations that President Bush's administration believes we are fighting.

Perhaps we need to further understand the movement we have created. Perhaps we should realize what meaning is constructed by draping all that we own in red, white and blue, realize how those colors are understood by countries on the receiving end of our domineering foreign policy. True justice, if this country believes in it, should come in the name of peace.