Columnist Mike O’Callaghan: Now we must teach the religious fanatics about us

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 4:25 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is executive editor of the Sun and publisher of the Henderson Home News, where this column first appeared.

I've had a gut full of columns and editorials telling me the United States doesn't understand the terrorists who killed 6,000 innocent people in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. What's there to understand? Their goals have been made known, and it's clear that freedoms we enjoy are getting in the way of fanatical Muslim fundamentalists planning to dominate the world as they see it.

There isn't much more to understand after watching the death and destruction some of their dedicated terrorists delivered two weeks ago. They didn't do this because we don't understand them. No, they did this because our way of life and what we call pop culture appears to be out of their reach. Our American goods, music and entertainment have invaded the world they have dominated with their own set of rules. What the extremists see causes them fear of losing control.

Amusing was a photo of some Pakistanis in the streets protesting their government cooperating with Washington. Above their scowling faces was a huge poster of a gentleman with white hair smiling down on them. Sure enough, it was one of their enemies, Col. Sanders, with a big KFC across his white suit. I couldn't see their shoes but you can bet that some of them had Nike on them.

They are jealous and fearful of what we have, but they don't see the true strength of the United States. The freedom of our women to dress and work where they desire bothers them. With the Taliban ruling Afghanistan, where women are even kept from attending schools, the pictures of our freedoms are a continuing threat. What our country considers a way of life has become a threat to the fanatics and their world.

As President George W. Bush pointed out, our freedom to elect our leaders and to openly disagree with them is probably our biggest threat to those in the worldwide Islamic movement to dominate. They may be correct, if what has taken place in Iran the past 25 years is an example. The repressive regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini replaced a king who wasn't much better. They held American diplomats captive and shouted hate for the "Great Satan." In recent years the Iranians have pushed for more freedoms and the dominating Muslim leaders have had to ease up on their restrictions and have lost a national election. The demands by Islamic extremists for the U.S. to withdraw from that part of the world, and not come back, shows they don't really know the "Great Satan." We know that what they are really saying when demanding our foreign policy must change is: "We hate the Jews and intend to destroy Israel. Now that we have persecuted the Jews and driven most of them from every Muslim country, we want to finish the job and have their blood run into the sea."

They fear that our economic and political freedoms are undermining their domination of millions of people. At the same time we are getting in their way as they strive to kill Jews and in many countries Christianity has also felt their wrath. As a Christian, I'm also an infidel and subject to their swords.

If these fanatics believe we are going to run and hide and forget the only democratic people in the Middle East, they don't know the Americans. No, and we aren't going to sacrifice our own freedoms to please them.

I would say it's about time the people running the world of terrorism should learn more about us. We know enough about them to make certain they won't get their way by spreading fear. They have aroused the anger of Americans and soon many of them will be getting to know our Special Forces, which include many Arab Americans.