The following op-ed
by U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes was originally
published in the September 12 edition of USA Today
and is in the public domain. There are no republication
restrictions.
(begin byliner)
Where's the Outrage?
By Karen Hughes
Five
years after the Sept. 11 attacks, one essential ingredient
is still lacking in our international response to terrorism:
the concerted moral outrage of everyday citizens of every
faith and country.
The names of the people murdered that morning
read like a roll call of the world's family: Ahmed, Alonso,
Chung, Fazio, Fitzgerald, Goldstein, Gonzalez, Jablonski,
Mbaya, McSweeney, Mohammed, Rizzo, Wallendorf and Zukelman.
The victims, citizens of more than 90 countries, included
a young Muslim woman, seven months pregnant, on her way
to attend a friend's wedding; an Iranian grandmother who
had overcome her fear of flying to visit her grandsons in
Boston; a German businessman in New York to attend a meeting.
His son, 4 at the time, said, "If the terrorists knew
how much we love Papa, they wouldn't have flown the plane
into the tower."
Unfortunately, the extremists we face don't
care.
Since that fateful day, hundreds of others
have been torn from their families, murdered as terrorists
targeted morning commuters in London, Madrid and India,
wedding guests at a hotel in Jordan, children in school
in Russia and lining up for candy in Iraq, tourists in Egypt
and Bali, Indonesia.
Out of the norm
This is not right, or normal, or acceptable,
and a much louder chorus of voices needs to join in condemning
it. Terrorism threatens all of us. It targets the very foundations
of a free society. Yet where are the mothers organizing
against terrorism as American mothers did against drunken
driving? Where are the fathers promising to teach their
sons to choose to live rather than choose to die? Where
are the religious clerics and congregations of all faiths
arguing that no just and loving God would call on young
men and women to kill themselves and others in the name
of religion?
To be fair, many voices, Western and Eastern,
Islamic and Christian, have spoken out against the violence.
Yet the criticism seems oddly muted. Offensive cartoons
sparked massive protests in nations across the Islamic world.
The international outcry was immediate when civilians were
killed in the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Yet we have seen no similar mass condemnation
of terrorist violence and murder, and no hint of remorse
from those engaged in these acts. As I have traveled the
world, I have met those who try to justify the violence
based on policy differences, long-held grievances or a perceived
threat from the West.
Those who speak of a clash of civilizations
seem to forget that Islam is part of America, that an estimated
six to seven million Muslims live and worship freely in
America. America and our international partners went to
war to protect Muslims in the Balkans and gave generously
to help Muslims rebuild their lives after the tsunami in
Indonesia and the earthquake in Pakistan, just as many Muslim-majority
countries reached out generously to help Americans in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
We do this because we believe in the dignity
and value of every person. The fifth anniversary of Sept.
11 is both a reminder of the inhumanity of the extremists
we are up against and the humanity shared by most citizens
of the world. The color of our skin, the language we speak
and the way we worship may be different, but much more unites
us than divides us.
So why aren't more of us doing more
to stop the terror?
First, I believe most of us hope that terrorism
is an aberration. Unfortunately, I do not believe it is
true. Part of my job is to look at the propaganda being
spread on Internet sites and TV sets around the world. It
is chilling. Bombings are depicted as acts of glory. Children
are being taught the language of hate. Thousands of people
have been trained in terror training camps, convinced the
only way to defend their faith is to kill all others who
have a different point of view.
Second, the presence of religion in this
debate makes governments and individuals nervous. We are
unsure how to engage; we hesitate to offend. Yet all major
faiths -- including Christianity, Islam and Judaism -- teach
that life is precious. We cannot allow what is essentially
a death cult to get away with murder in the name of religion.
History's model
It is in the best interest of all the civilized
people that the terror stop. And we have a model. Slavery's
path from international norm to pariah began with moral
outrage. In 1833, one of every seven adults in Britain signed
a petition against slavery. That was twice the number of
people eligible to vote at the time and the largest public
petitioning of Parliament to that date. The grassroots petition
drive was born of the conviction that every person has value
-- a conviction that should guide us today.
Our challenge is to launch a new grassroots
movement across all faiths and continents, a movement that
clearly states that no grievance, no complaint, no matter
how legitimate, can ever justify the targeting and killing
of innocent civilians. A movement that commits to teach
our children that life is precious, diversity should be
celebrated, and hope can conquer hate.
I have read many stories of lives cut short
by acts of terrorism. Almost all the victims' families speak
of the joy their loved ones brought to those around them.
They didn't deserve to die. And those who killed them earned
only shame, not glory. The least the rest of us can do is
say so loudly and in concert.
(Karen Hughes is under secretary for public
diplomacy and public affairs at the State Department.)
(end byliner)
###