LETTER: Think about freedoms

Editor,

A recent letter to the editor questioned the United States’ dedication to freedom (Spielmans, April 14, 2003). I would ask anyone who supports his view, the following:

When you woke up this morning, was it in the bed, home and town of YOUR choosing? Or were you relocated by your government at gunpoint? Are you getting an education based on YOUR own merits? Or because your family is related to a government official? Do you move about freely with every possible opportunity to succeed at your fingertips? Or are you held down by a repressive regime that would not hesitate to gas you like an insect?

Perhaps most importantly, after you sat down at your computer to write a letter of disdain toward your country, did the secret police storm your home, pull you from your bed, drag you into the alley and put a bullet through your head? Ironically, the very fact that you CAN write and publish a hateful anti-government letter, is the most potent evidence of the freedom your government preserves.

How can you imply that it is wrong to try to spread this freedom throughout the world? Are you (or I) in some way more deserving of freedom than a citizen of Iraq? The United States has a history of trying to spread freedom. We succeeded in Germany and Japan. Because we failed elsewhere, you suggest that we stop trying. I disagree.

Daniel P. Ames