Written by an Australian Dentist...
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
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone 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 Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole 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 Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each
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 lives in 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
person 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, never asking a thing in return. 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. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the
best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol
of America, The Statue of Liberty, 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 the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for
their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different
countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and
Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in 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,