Are You an American?

Many Americans in foreign countries are currently being advised by local hosts and friends to claim they are Canadian in the event of trouble. By trouble, I assume they mean a terrorist attack. And by recommending hiding behind Canadian citizenship, I assume they mean to imply that doing so will decrease the chances a terrorist will single one out for harm. The question isn't whether the lie would work. I suspect it would-- but why?

The answer is (with apologies to my relatives up north) because Canadians don’t stand for anything and never challenge anyone. What evil has Canadian leadership stamped out in its 136-year history? No evildoer in the world fears Canadians. To be fair, Canada is an important ally, and has served with distinction alongside of America in many wars--but never in a leadership role. Canada flies under history’s radar. If geopolitical roles had flavors, Canada’s would be vanilla. Canadians rouse neither hatred nor affection. So being “Canadian” as you travel abroad is the safe play.

Contrast that with what America stands for: property rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to dissent, fair play-- and the willingness to stand up to tyrants and defend these rights. American force has, over the years, defeated or otherwise bested many bullies and thugs including imperial Britain, the Confederacy, Spain, Germany (twice), Japan, Italy, North Korea, the Soviet Union, Panama, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan-- and not without sacrifice. In fact, no country in the long history of mankind has willingly and deliberately paid such an exorbitant price to protect freedom and liberate oppressed people around the world. We have given of our blood and our treasure. And we have no equal. No country on earth is as charitable or as strong.

Certainly we make these sacrifices in the context of protecting our nation and its interests but also because we believe in something larger than any one nation, or any one life. And it’s not a “New World Order.” Unless by that one means a world ordered around American values and principles. It’s those principles that motivate our actions and animate our lives. While we are not constantly looking to inject ourselves militarily in the world, when we must, we always fight to win (with one notable exception) and we are always magnanimous in victory.

It is one thing to have values but an entirely different matter to fight for them. Standing on principle may be courageous, but it’s not without risk-- severe risk. Righteous people are very likely to be challenged, perhaps even attacked. And so it is that Muslim extremists have focused their hatred and their terrorism on America.

This current clash of ideals was inevitable. And it’s not a recent phenomenon. In fact, in his recent book about President Bush and the War on Terrorism titled The Right Man, David Frum reminds us that Muslim terrorism against Americans began 35 years ago with the assignation of Robert Kennedy by a Palestinian supporter.

Middle East terrorists have been the second greatest threat to Americans for many decades now. However, in the face of Soviet Communism and potential nuclear Armageddon, it was easy not to focus on the growing danger. The superpower standoff kept terrorism mostly muted. It’s no coincidence that when the lid came off shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 foreign terrorists struck their first blow on American soil at the World Trade Center in 1993.

A new evil has risen up to dominate our attention where once the “Red Menace” reigned supreme. Muslim extremists with their jihads are no less evil (yes, evil) than communist regimes with their purges. And they are just as focused on opposing everything America stands for—both the understated value we place on human dignity and the excessive way we celebrate our individualism. The face of the threat may have changed, but the threat itself has not.

The question for Americans is the same as it was in 1941 and 1861 and 1775. And each of us must make up our mind beforehand so we are ready if and when a terrorist asks us whether we will stand and be counted.

I am reminded of 17-year old Columbine student Cassie Bernall who found herself a few years ago at the mercy of two classmates bent on destroying that which they opposed. When her terrorist asked Cassie, "Do you believe in God?” he was asking her the same fundamental question: “Do you stand for anything?” Cassie chose to answer “Yes,” and she did not escape.

If that day comes you will not be expecting it any more than Cassie was when she went to the library that day. If the evil suddenly envelopes you, it may come in the form of a hijacking, a hostage takeover, a bombing, a poisonous gas attack, or something else as yet unimagined. There will be chaos, and people running for their lives. And the terrorists may approach and ask a fateful question. In that moment, you will have the chance to extend your life by claiming emphatically that you are a citizen from a country that doesn’t interfere in the agendas of evildoers.

What will you say when a terrorist asks, “Are you an American?”


Matt Wingard is a former television journalist and an Oregon political consultant. This op-ed was originally published in The Washington Times on February 23, 2003.