i got this by email today. I think it sums up everything very nicely... read on.
An Australian Describes an American
>
>'To Kill an American' -- You probably missed it in the rush of news last
>week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had
>published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an
>American, any American.
>
>So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what
>an American is, so they would know when they found one. (Good one ya,
>mate!!!!) An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,
>Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian,
>Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian,
>Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also
>be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the
>many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian,
>or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more
>Muslims in America than in Afghanistan.
>
>The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each
>of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For
>that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed
>thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. An American is
>from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of
>that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which
>recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.
>An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every
>other nation in the world in their time of need.
>
>When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans
>came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their
>country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more
>than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the
>best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food,
>the best athletes. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol
>of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor,
>the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest
>tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them
>were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001,
>earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World
>Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures,
>and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the
>terrorists.
>
>So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did
>General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty
>tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be
>killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a
>particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of
>freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
Just Huck It.
