Fear and Loathing in Manhattan: Americans on the Wrong Side in Shameful 'Mosque' Revolt

Take a look at a story that appeared buried in this morning's New York Times about the recent Presidential election in Rwanda.  In the story, a spokesman for the National Security Council, Mike Hammer, rightly criticizes Rwanda for not going far enough to implement democratic reforms following the horrific genocide in 1994.  

But before you skim the first few paragraphs and move on to more pressing news, notice Mr. Hammer's quote at the end of the story, in which he describes the meaning of democracy:

"'Democracy is about more than holding elections,' Mr. Hammer said.  'A democracy reflects the will of the people, where minority voices are heard and respected, where opposition candidates run on the issues without threat or intimidation, where freedom of expression and freedom of the press are protected.'"

Mr. Hammer should hit the U.S. speaking speaking circuit and give lectures on civics and public policy.  These days, Americans themselves need a reminder of what it means to live in a democracy.

The shameful debate raging around the country about a planned mosque near Ground Zero is one such discussion in need of Mr. Hammer's civics lesson.  In the days and months after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, Americans of all stripes and backgrounds agreed that the U.S. was attacked because of "our freedoms".  Even if the truth was more complicated than that, it was a directionally accurate statement that seemed to fit the bumper-sticker-type rationale that the Nation desperately sought to make sense of the disbelief that befell Washington and Lower Manhattan on that horrible day in September.  And the phrase stuck.  If you heard it once, you heard it a million times: Islamic extremists from far away regions of the world attacked the United States "because of our freedoms."

Of course, the truth was and continues to be more complicated than that.  But it didn't matter.  Attacking American's way of life and its freedoms was something that resonated with people, convinced that its exceptional image was the prime motive for provoking America into a war it never asked for.

And yet, many Americans seem largely unexceptional these days as they wave signs in protest at the very thought of a mosque near Ground Zero.

Surely one would expect protest from Sarah Palin and the Tea Party mafia - what else would you expect from the woman who can see Russia from her bay window.  However, since when is freedom of religion a subject of serious debate among mainstream media and citizens alike?  Americans don't have to look too far down the list of Constitutional Amendments (it's the first one!) to realize that what they are protesting is completely legal and part of the very fabric of this tolerant and inclusive society.  Much to the dismay of Newt Gingrich and Fox News, America is not 'a Christian Nation'.  It is a secular society that goes out of its way to ensure the freedoms (yes, those same freedoms that extremists attacked on 9/11) of all of its citizens to assemble, express themselves and practice whatever faith suits them best.

The other bumper-sticker-phrase we heard in the days after 9/11 was that we as Americans need to win the "hearts and minds" of Muslims around the world.  So in that spirit, Mr. Bush dropped hundreds of pounds of food for starving Afghans before commencing the swift and (initially) successful invasion of their country.  Public diplomacy in this regard was on full display when the American Navy rushed to the aid of Muslims in Indonesia after the devastating Tsunami.  And it's on display today as the American Navy and Marines take a leading role in the widespread and deadly flooding in Pakistan, hoping to restore the moral image of the American military as more than just a drone campaign in Northwestern Pakistan.

So with the country so focused on "winning the hearts and minds" of Muslims around the world, how does one justify this blatantly nativist and xenophobic attack on a mosque, one that over 60% of the country supposedly agrees with?  Does one seriously believe, as some of the protesters allege, that the most high-profile mosque in recent memory will be the center of some covert terrorist factory?  What aspiring terrorist in their right mind would set foot in that mosque after all of the attention it has received?

Sadly, this issue is on track to be a national debate and even has the President on the retreat from his refreshing comments he made recently in support of the mosque.  Critics suggest that the President is "out of touch" with the mainstream of Americans.  How sad for the mainstream and how valuable a lesson they could all learn from Mr. Hammer on the meaning of democracy - where "minority voices are heard and respected. . . where freedom of expression (is) protected."

In reality, this mosque probably picked the wrong year to expand and move locations.  In a year that has seen a large percentage of Americans blame their economic and social status on Mexican immigrants, anyone who isn't a white, gun-toting Christian pining for smaller government is suddenly a threat to the American way of life.  So goes the politics of fear that has enveloped American society since the election of the first black President and the near collapse of the American financial system two years ago.  Instead of having a national discussion about how to grow America out of this recession, the politics of the lowest common denominator and network television have left us with with more bumper sticker soundbites:  The economy is bad and jobs are nowhere to be found, Mexican "illegals" are to blame. . . A Mosque near Ground Zero is not only a security risk, but a slap in the face."  

One protester's poster stated that "ISLAM BUILDS MOSQUES at the SITES of their CONQUESTS and VICTORIES."  I'm not sure if "ISLAM" is supposed to be a person, country or what, just as I'm unclear by the poster's capitalization choice.  But nevertheless, I'm more confused by the message.  Who really believes that lower Manhattan was "their conquest" or "their victory".  I most certainly don't.

In a different time, I imagine a member of the U.S. Senate saying something along the following lines, without fear of being dragged out of Washington DC by an angry mob:

This Nation was attacked on 9/11 because of the promise of America and the tolerance of our society as a home to people from every corner of the world.  Nowhere on this planet do you have such a dynamic and integrated society with people from every walk of life living and working in relative peace together.  If the United States wants to be seen around the World as it sees itself at home, it had better get its head out of its ass and stop giving Al Jazeera headlines about how Americans hate Muslims.

Perhaps that's a bridge too far in an election year.  However, maybe another approach would resonate with conservatives and liberals alike.  

Since the 9/11 attacks America has been embroiled in nearly a decade of war in two countries and a broader shadow war around the world. But, as Ted Koppel rightly described recently on NPR, very few Americans have sacrificed personally in support of those fighting their third, fourth and fifth tours of duty.  Other than the soldiers, intelligence officers and diplomats deployed abroad, risking their lives in these difficult wars, Americans have not had to pay for the wars in the form of higher taxes, fewer luxuries, less opportunity, etc.  Nothing has been asked of them personally.  In fact, Mr. Bush was famously quoted as urging Americans to continue shopping after 9/11.  I'm sure socialites around the country rejoiced at that directive.  

Economic hardship came irrespective of these wars abroad and would have happened regardless of 9/11 as the country took on too much debt and had too little idea how money was exchanging hands on Wall Street.  But today's Americans are not like those during World War II, where sons were drafted away to fight and fuel and rubber were rationed to ensure supplies were available to fight the war.  Fortunately, the progress that followed World War II allows for life to pretty much go on as a global war against Islamic extremism rages in Central Asia and Eastern Africa.

So it's all the more perplexing that Americans cannot do the easy things to help make these wars a success.  The Marines and US Airborne are doing the heavy lifting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  CIA officers around the world do the heavy lifting at great personal risk and sacrifice.  So why can't we do some of the light lifting.  

Imagine the effect on the current war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - where progress is met with growing anti-American hatred and fear - if the headlines around the world focused on the US military's humanitarian rescue efforts to save thousands of victims from flooding that has engulfed over 20% of Pakistan.  Imagine if New Yorkers and Americans alike celebrated (or were at least ambivalent towards) the building of a mosque, whether it be near Ground Zero or Omaha, Nebraska, as a symbol of why America is different.  Let's show the world why we offer a far superior model for modern society and government than the Taliban's version.  Imagine what that story would do for America's image around the world.  Oh how those "hearts and minds" would start fluttering. . . 

And to achieve this, we don't have to pay higher taxes, sign up for the draft, drive less to save rubber or ration gasoline.  All we have to do is shut up.  Shut up about the (imagined) threats that peaceful and moderate Muslims pose to Americans.  Shut up about conspiracy theories where terrorists are supposedly entering the country to give birth to children and earn them citizenship so that  they can return to the US 20 years later to launch attacks (I'm not going to track down that link, but it was on CNN - Anderson 360, I'm not making this up).  Shut up about another conspiracy theory where Islamic mosques are slowly colonizing America with the intent of instituting Sharia law in this country.  Again, I'm not making this up.  These are debates raging on national television about the so-called threats posed by Muslim-Americans and you can be sure it will continue to be a campaign issue, now that the President has tried to do the right thing and support a Citizen's right to the First Amendment (how dare he).

While the majority of the country argues over religious freedom in Manhattan, the real problems fly by us - buried on page 5-10 of the newspaper.  The Middle East is a geopolitical time bomb.  Next to the rise of China, it might be the most serious threat we face over the next Century.  It has been engulfed in several wars in the past decade and many more for decades before that.  Nowhere (with the very generous exception being Iraq) does there exist a government freely elected by the people.  Decades of religious conflict, political suppression and economic stagnation have stoked the turmoil.  Iran and (maybe Syria) continue to pursue nuclear weapons, which has the Saudis, the UAE and other governments scared enough to buy billions of dollars worth of weapons from the US to counter Tehran.  Afghanistan is getting worse by the day and stability in Iraq is measured in days where a suicide bomb doesn't go off.  Oh, and then there's that pesky Israeli-Palestinian problem.  Never mind the turmoil in Lebanon that nobody pays attention to and the coming turmoil in Egypt as President Mubarak prepares for a transition of power that hasn't occurred since the assassination of President Sadat in 1981.  Yemen is looking like the next Afghanistan (but maybe worse) and Somalia is a completely failed State under assault from Islamic extremists.  And oh, by the way, oil still matters.  I feel like Billy Joel in "We Didn't Start the Fire".

The landscape is fraught with danger for future generations of Americans and poses treacherous challenges for the future economic and security interests of the United States, not to mention the interests of those who actually reside in the Middle East and Central Asia.  With so much on the line, one wonders how American politics can be so obtuse.  "Democracy", Mr. Hammer said as he lectured Rwanda's President in the wake of their recently rigged election, "is about more than holding elections.  A democracy reflects the will of the people, where minority voices are heard and respected."  How ironic then that the "Ground Zero Mosque" is where election year politics is rapidly trampling America's democratic ideals and attempting to deny peaceful Americans their 1st Amendment right to assemble and worship as they please.

Nine years, trillions of dollars, thousands of deaths and a recession later, the American electorate will tell you that they have battle fatigue.  They tell you this in how they vote for exit strategies, the closing of Guantanimo Bay, smaller government, less defense spending and lower taxes.  The newspapers reflect it by burying the stories of the dead and maimed soldiers somewhere inside the front section of the newspaper.  No longer does the death of a 19 year-old Private warrant front-page news.  And yet, tonight and for many nights in the future, young American soldiers, intelligence officers and diplomats are fighting a war that most Americans would just assume forget about.  They wish it would just go away.

The problem is, for those of us paying attention, this feels like the first couple innings of an extra inning ballgame.  The Dodger fans have just started arriving to the park and we've got a long way to go.  Americans may be successful in drawing down troops and bringing everyone home in the next few election cycles.  But the next time a large attack happens on a major U.S. city, we'll be back in Afghanistan or Waziristan or launching an invasion into Yemen or Somalia.  We'll demand that the intelligence community take the gloves off (but request that they do so in accordance with the Army Field Manual).  We'll spend months talking about connecting the dots, how our freedoms were attacked and how on earth can we finally win their hearts and minds. . . 

Here's a thought.  We can stop bitching about things that don't matter.  While I'm going to be around for my second child's birth this January, dozens more will miss their kid's big day because they're in Kabul.  The least I can do is the easy lifting back home.  We all can.  And we can start by embracing (or not giving a damn) about a mosque / community center near Ground Zero.

Instead, we can pay attention.  Pay attention to the real threats we face and demand that our leaders do the same.  We can have a national conversation about the resources we'll need as a nation to win this war - over the next several generations.  For the American culture of quick fixes and immediate satisfaction, the global war on terror is going to be a big letdown for many of you.  And you thought Ken Burns' documentaries were long and tedious. . . 

Most importantly, we can participate.  Oh, right, that democracy thing again. . . Yes, that democracy thing.  What Mr. Hammer didn't say to Rwanda, but might say to an audience on his new lecture circuit, is that democracy is not only a right, but it is a responsibility.  It is only as strong as the citizens who participate.

So for our own sake, forget about the mosque.  Let your fellow citizens do what they want and don't feel so threatened by everyone around you.  It's embarrassing to see so many people in this country terrified by people who are different.  Stop worrying about Sharia Law overrunning the Constitution.  My God, if it can't take hold in Afghanistan, I highly doubt it will dominate the laws of Texas.

If you want something to lose sleep over, pick up the paper and pay attention to what's happening in the Middle East and Central Asia.  That's our real national security threat and one that we ignore (and bungle) at our peril.