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 an Australian dentist wrote the following to let
everyone now 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, 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 chooses. 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 person 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, 2001
Americans had given more than any other nation to
the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the
best books, the best music, the best food, the best
athletes. 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. I've been told that the World
Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other
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 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.
Pass this around the World.

~Author Unknown #