A recent letter writer went into great detail about the fact that our country has become Afghanistan. I most respectfully disagree.
I can agree on the fact that the current situation has finger prints of four administrations on it. That the military was asked to function in a manner that was not consistent with their overall responsibility to our nation.
That 20 years ago we were attacked in a devious, dastardly and disgusting manner. Three out of the four targets were civilian, not military in nature. The actions of a cowardly bunch of bigoted, ignorant, small minded people against our great nation precipitated our eventual response. These facts are not in question, so what is the truth?
Does the Aman government or any agency put LGBTQ folks in cages and set them afire, put them in mass graves and bury them alive? Throw them from building rooftops? Behead them in a public setting?
No.
Do we as a nation force woman to cover themselves head to toe, only leave the house in the company of a male family member and not work or educate themselves?
No.
But one local secular group does forbid woman from seeking higher education, marrying outside their community, gaining employment outside the home all while violating both the N.Y. State and U.S. Constitution ( “The Curious Case of Kiryas Joel” by Louis Grumet and John Caher, Chicago review press) all while demanding through political wrangling ever increasing taxpayer funded subsidies.
Do certain states enact laws which trouble some folks? Absolutely. Consider this: NYC now requires a vaccine passport for admission to most buildings facilities. OK, public safety but an increasingly large percentage of the unvaccinated population are people of color. Does this make the passport a racist document? It would seem so on the surface. I mean if asking folks to show ID to vote is racist, then isn’t this the same thing?
I find it interesting that so many want to continue to vilify our previous president as the cause for all our problems. He has been out of office for nine months. In that time we have seen inflation rising, along with fuel prices, thousands of people coming across our southern border illegally during a global pandemic, kids in cages, unaccounted for by DHS, soaring crime rates in major Democratically controlled cities. But hey, it’s all good, right?
What seems to be missing are the thousands of people wanting to get out of our country like Afghanistan.
While not perfect, the United States of America was a shining beacon of hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life. I now see abject despair and loss of the will to succeed by so many.
Twenty years ago, flags covered this great nation overcome with a sense of shared grief and loss.
Now many see it as a sign of division and media-fueled racist fervor.
where folks once could agree to disagree on anything, now you are labeled and ostracized for your feelings, beliefs, opinions.
In a perfect world, we would never have been attacked on 9/11, never had to send hundreds of thousands of young men and women into harms way.
But the world isn’t perfect. Our nation isn’t perfect, but we sure as hell aren’t Afghanistan or anything close.
Some folks say if you don’t love our country you should leave. I, for one, know our nation has never been for quitters, ever. We have welcomed folks seeking a better life since before our creation. Imperfect, yes. Harmed folks and done some less than honorable things at times? Yes, no argument.
The sum of all our wrongs, shortcomings and problems pales in comparison to all the positive things this nation and its citizens have contributed to the betterment of our world.
Ask yourself: If we are such a horrible, racist, intolerable nation, why do so many want to risk everything to get here?
I can guarantee you that is not the case for Afghanistan.
James Mehling
Warwick