An American Is...

There was 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 know
what an American is, so they would know when they found one:

An American is ...

      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 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 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 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. 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, 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 a 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 modern 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.
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