posted 03-25-2002 01:20 PM         

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 I just
thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would
know when they found one.

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Mexican, African, Indian,
Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or
Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho,
Apache, 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
choose. 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 man and woman to 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.

The best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best
athletes--Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The
national symbol of America 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 on the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their
families.

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.

So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you
thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old,
ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands, too,
will join the community of free and prosperous nations. And America will
welcome them!

Pass this around the World!

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