Possum Philosophy: From the perspective of history

By ROBERT CAHILL/Columnist

As usual, this column is being written on Thursday. This happens to be Sept. 11, and is the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed so many innocent people and destroyed the World Trade Center as well as damaging the Pentagon.
Most of us remember what we were doing at the time. I was slowly (I am not a “morning person” at all) getting ready for work and catching the morning news on the Today Show as is my usual habit. To a person, the entire nation was stunned, shocked that we could be hit so easily. I would bet a majority of citizens today believe it was the worst tragedy ever to strike the United States. While I definitely agree it was a terrible tragedy, I do not agree it was the worst event to happen to us. I put it at a tie.
As a student of history, I feel the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, is equal in nature and severity, and I would bet that if you ask most anyone who was around then and more than 11 or 12 years old, they would agree. While the terrorist attacks resulted in more deaths, 2,998 (and one later from lung damage ruled to have been caused by pollution from the fires, according to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia), there were 2,402 killed and 1,282 injured by the Japanese.
You may wonder why I believe the Japanese attack was worse. I suppose because we apparently had semi-peaceful diplomatic relations with them until the actual attack itself. On the other hand, our government had been aware of Al-Qaeda plots, bombings and attempted bombings since Dec. 29, 1992 when, according to Wikipedia, the terrorist coalition killed two Austrian tourists in bombings that had U.S. troops headed for Somalia. It is not as if we were unaware of these Islamic extremists nor did not realize their hatred for us and wish to injure us as a nation in some way.
The thing about the attacks by Al-Qaeda that makes me the angriest is complaints from Muslims about what they consider profiling by this country and the anger expressed toward many of them who no doubt were and are good U.S. citizens.
But if they think they have it rough, they should consider the fate of many Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Some 110,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans were rounded up and placed in internment camps where they lived as virtual prisoners. Now for a few, this may have been justified, but many were not only U.S. citizens, but had been U.S. citizens for several generations. So, in my opinion, most Islamic-Americans are pretty lucky. The backlash they felt was pretty minor compared to what Japanese-Americans encountered during World War II.
And look how the world has changed today. Just over 60 years ago, the Japanese were despised by many Americans. We laughed at goods marked “Made in Japan,” even more so at those with “Made in Occupied Japan” on them.  Now we ride around in Toyotas, Nissans and Hondas. They are considered to be the standard for fine autos by many. So much so that U.S. automakers are struggling to stay afloat.
Now as a car lover, I like many different makes. And I am the first to admit that for a few years, U.S. automakers got sloppy. Quality was poor as was styling and performance. But that is all in the past. Today, most U.S. autos are equal in quality to the best of their foreign competition. With the exception of a few “premium” brands, they can compete in every category. And yes, while many foreign makers have plants here in the U.S. and employ many U.S. workers, the overall profit goes to their homelands.
So why not buy American? Styling is good. Quality and performance are once more very good. Durability is equal to most any maker, and the majority of the money stays here in our country. Buy American; it’s good for all of us.
The war against terrorism is different. Terrorists are driven by religious extremism. They don’t give a rat’s rump where you are from. They just insist that you practice their religious beliefs… or else. However, in my opinion, religious extremism is never good regardless of the religion it tries to cloak itself as being.
I once worked with a young man who I considered, and still do, a good friend. His father was a Baptist minister and my friend was a very religious young man, certainly nothing wrong with that. One day he asked me to what religion I belonged. I explained to him that while I was not the most religious of fellows, I was raised in the Methodist Church and generally adhered to being a Methodist if I categorized myself at all.
My friend looked at me and said, “Oh that’s OK. Dad says Methodists are all right, they’re just wrong about a few things.” Now I almost took affront at that. Then I realized he was young and just stating what his father had taught him. Now I could have gotten hot, lectured, ranted or raved at him. Instead I looked him in the eye and said, “That’s funny, my Dad always told me that Baptists were all right, they were just wrong about a few things.”
For a second, I honestly believe, he was shocked. Then he looked at me and said, “Oh, I see what you mean.” We never discussed religion much after that but we did remain friends. It’s too bad we can’t reach that same understanding with the Islamic extremists.

A freelance journalist, Robert “Rocky” Cahill writes regularly for the Smyth County News & Messenger.