In Friday's issue of the Spectrum, Dylan Hall advocated that in response to the recent attacks upon innocent civilians from around the world, the United States should withdraw its military presence from the Middle East. That is the worst possible policy that could be implemented. The United States is a sovereign and legitimate government. It has placed troops in Saudi Arabia that remain there at the request of the sovereign and legitimate government. The government of Saudi Arabia has not requested the removal of American troops, but it has banished Osama bin Laden for his desire to declare war upon the civilized world.
It would be an act of supreme folly to conclude that by ending this global presence, the United States would be subject to less terrorist attacks. On the contrary, it would amount to more innocent civilians being killed. By withdrawing from the Middle East, the United States would send a message to the world that America will let its foreign policy be dictated by terrorists. Under the Hall doctrine, whenever the United States engages in a controversial diplomatic stance, all those opposed to it merely have to do is kill a large number of citizens.
Let me be clear, I have no desire to bomb innocent Afghani civilians. However, the world must hold accountable those governments that harbor international criminals who dedicate their lives to killing as many civilians as possible. The fact that we can never eradicate terrorism is not enough of a cause to not bring those responsible for the cowardly attacks on the world to justice. Hall's thesis is as abhorrent as one saying, that since we can never eradicate murder let's not bother to bring murderers to justice.
Another major problem with Hall's argument is his portrayal of the U.S. not giving humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. He conveniently left out the fact that the United States is the largest giver of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Thus, the U.S. does indeed deliver, "food, medical supplies, and toilet paper," to those in impoverished countries.
Finally, I feel the need to point out that while Osama bin Laden and his organizations are evil, Islam and the Muslim community are not. Bin Laden is not a Muslim; he preaches hate and terror under the false pretences of those being the desire of Allah. His Koran is written with the blood of the innocents, the Koran of Muslims contains the words of a tolerant God that embraces Jews and Christians as people of the book. His evil organization will be brought to justice by a united America whose bonds will not be broken by intolerance towards other religions.
