U.S. IS THE WORLD'S LEADING TERRORIST;
EMBASSY BOMBINGS A REACTION

REAPING WHAT WE SOW

Based on the FBI's definition of terrorism, the leading proponent of international terrorism is the United States. All over the world and to a degree no one else is capable of, the U.S. government routinely engages in “the unlawful use of force or violence” intended to physically and/or psychologically “intimidate or coerce” people and governments in “furtherance of political or social objectives.”

Anyone desiring to understand the many nuances of terrorism can do no better than to investigate the actions of government in the United States for the last 200 years. Listing examples of this would fill a large book. However, more recent ones include the invasion of Panama; direct and indirect involvement in the deaths of Iraqi women and children and old people during and after the Gulf War; and aiding and abetting the Central American genocide of the 1980s. The blood of more than a million civilians is on the hands of the United States, from these three episodes alone.

It is no mystery why the United States is seen as the “Evil Empire” by a significant number of people in the world.

The death and destruction resulting from the bombings near the East African embassies are tragic. But you reap what you sow, and so the United States need look no further than the nearest mirror to find where the blame lies. We should count our blessings every day that more of the world's people don't follow the violent and inhumane example set by the United States and exact vengeance against those whom they see as their enemy. - Hans Sherrer

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, printed as the featured Letter to the Editor on August 27, 1998