Letter: Ali asks nation to be considerate, which is ironic

Monday, Oct. 22, 2001 | 9:07 a.m.

Muhammad Ali recently released a press statement instructing the American people not to hold the entire Muslim population responsible for the acts of a few fanatical terrorists. I absolutely agree with his statement. Being of Italian descent, I understand the similar injustice of holding millions of hard-working Italian people responsible for the criminal activities of the Mafia organization.

However, at a time when our country is mobilizing troops to fight a war against these terrorists, and when it is obvious that some of our soldiers will lose their lives for this cause, I thought it ironic that Ali has seen fit to give our country advice on how Americans should act during wartime conflict when he has the odious distinction of being the most famous draft dodger in American history.

In his prime, Ali was the greatest fighter I have ever seen, and it is sad to see him in his present debilitated condition. But he is fortunate that during World War II Americans did not have his views on pacifism because it was the American forces that shifted the balance of power, and without this country's contribution to the war effort, which cost the lives of thousands of American patriots, Hitler would have realized his goal of world conquest. I wonder if Ali, a black man, would have been allowed to achieve the fame and fortune, which he enjoyed, if our country had been under the iron fist of Nazi domination led by Hitler who, along with his other evil compulsions, was a fanatical white supremacist.

FRANK CHELLI