The time has come for the government of the United States to make a statement of policy concerning the Middle East.
The religion of Islam has been hijacked by the extremists now in control of the Islamic world of the Middle East. These extremists do not respect the U.S., they hate the entire non-Islamic world. We are just the largest non-Islamic country.
These leaders hate the entire Judeo- Christian heritage of the western world. They would kill you, they would kill your children and this concept will not stop, no matter how much we negotiate or give them in aid.
The extremists of Egypt, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemin, Syria and the Palestinians do not respect the faiths of all non-Islamics. Negotiating is a matter of words and they do not respect the word, they respect power and retribution. I suggest that we learn to speak this language. The great Islamic faith, that brought art, science, medicine and literature is not the Islamic world we see now.
The Islamic Americans are not to be treated with disdain, they have to walk the line between faith and patriotism. That is difficult and we should respect their efforts.
However, we cannot accept any murderous actions because people are offended. The ability to be offended and not kill the offender is what freedom is all about. We do not kill those who speak against the U.S. or any of our faiths. We respect people right to speak. The Islamic world of the Middle East is different. They seem to have no respect for comments concerning faith.
I suggest that the U.S. sell nothing, buy nothing from those countries. The Arab spring that we read about and saw on TV was and is a shame. They would destroy Jews and Christians alike, adult and child. The U.S. must, to maintain its place as world leader, draw that line in the sand across which we will not accept violence and death of American citizens.
It is difficult for me to express this line of thinking and I do it reluctantly. However, until I see the leaders of these countries act differently by not arousing hatreds, by not organizing demonstrations, by allowing freedom of speech and religion and press, I do not welcome them into the civilized world which we try to inhabit. Does the U.S. make mistakes? Yes! But our objective is not to wipe the Islamic world from the earth.
To the Islamic faithful who try to live the faith of the Koran, I am sorry for what has happened to those who control the theocracy of the Middle East. I wish you well and safety, but I fear that you, like the rest of the world, are in for a difficult time.
Thus, words must be accompanied by deeds or they are just hollow sounds having no validity and no value. This behavior has been the history of the Middle East for much of the last century. I hope that the next hundred years are different, however, until they begin to value life more than misguided concepts, I do not anticipate change.
I hope I am wrong.
Warren Beyer is a Mayville resident.
