Response to Terrorist Attacks

Open Letter to George W. Bush
By George Verwer, London, England

This morning I was so moved concerning what is going on in connection with the terrible events in the USA that I decided to do an email letter to the President. After reading what I wrote, I wondered whether I should send it. Then I had a phone call asking me to appear on London Live, a BBC Radio Broadcast tomorrow at 5:45 London time. As an American, born just across the river from New York City who has lived abroad for over 40 years, I believe I have something to say about the present crisis that may help leaders of nations and President Bush make the right decisions in the days and weeks to come.

I have spent a good part of today talking with one of our workers who has just come back from Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have lived overseas for 40 years and have travelled in over 60 nations, one of the nations being Afghanistan as well as a high percentage of other Middle Eastern nations.

We love these people and have dear friends among them. Even in these difficult times of crisis, I hope that we can continue to pray for these nations.

Below is what I wrote this morning. If you can pass it on to others who are involved in decision-making, I would be grateful.

George Verwer

Dear President Bush and fellow Americans,

I was born in Paterson, New Jersey, just across from Manhattan Island. I was headed in the wrong direction in my life until a Billy Graham meeting in New York City when Christ found me. Since then I, along with thousands of others, have been involved in giving out the message of God.

I feel as an American citizen living abroad that I must speak up. I beg of you to read this because I believe our nation might be on the verge of making the biggest mistake in our nation's history. If we seek revenge instead of justice many innocent lives will be lost in the process, many of them will be Americans. We will make a gross mistake far bigger than those who so foolishly crashed those planes into the World Trade Buildings.

We desperately need real proof as to who did this before we start punishing people. We already have so many enemies around the world; so many are poor and hurt people who for various reasons hate America. If we make a major mistake at this point, we might trigger chaos and death of Americans in a way and in places that we never dreamed. The numbers who die will make the numbers in New York and Washington look small and thousands of Americans overseas will suffer enormously.

I was a history student at college in the USA and have continued to study history and related subjects. I read many magazines and try to keep in touch with what is going on in the world. I am trying to listen very carefully to what the rest of the world is saying. If we think other nations will stand with us in a proactive way when the big mistakes are made and when people start to get killed all over the place, then we are making a big mistake.

We are at an important point in history especially in connection with the relationship between Muslims and Christians. Are we aware of what is going on in Nigeria, Indonesia and other parts of the world? I was amazed at what Muslims were saying on television here in the UK just the other day.

They have been receiving hate-mail and one of their schools had to close. There are massive misunderstandings and this is related to human prejudice and racism. The wrong move at this time could interpreted as anti-Islamic and could be the match that starts a thousand fires across the entire world. If the great powers of the world think they can 'root out all evil' then I would like to know what history books they are reading.

Did Russia sort out Afghanistan? Have we sorted out Israel and Palestine? What about the Hutu and Tutsi? What about Northern Ireland? Let us think and let us move with caution, firmness and wisdom. Let's do a lot more homework before we make any big moves. There are a lot of basic things to do on every front.

We just had an election that showed among other things that we are a divided nation. We might be more united at this moment, but we have no proof of the long-term will and mind of the people. If hatred grows (the media showing again and again the cheering Palestinians doesn't help) and if we look for scapegoats, like the Muslim or Arab people, then this will become one of the greatest blunders in history. The average American doesn't know who is an Arab and who is not an Arab. Afghans are not Arabs. Top reporters on TV don't know. Yesterday one of the top politicians in the UK called Muslims Mohammedans, which is a huge offensive mistake to Muslims.

Why do we so easily see the sins and mistakes of other people and refuse to be realistic about our own?

We must repent and make every effort for dialogue (even with the Taliban) before we have some kind of great show of force. Have we forgotten our mistakes and blunders of past decades? We must make it clear that the Muslim world or Muslims in general are not guilty any more than all Americans are guilty of Oklahoma City.

Do we care about what the rest of the world really thinks? I know that some Americans don't. Europeans for the most part are asking for wisdom and restraint. You, yourself, said that this is a different kind of war.

Let us be radical in our approach on how we fight it.

I honor our military and this is a time of phenomenal struggle and testing. We desperately need to stay 'cool' at this time. I know
eventually there may have to be serious military action. But I pray that we would do our homework and be sure before any action is taken, with as much of the free world acting with us as possible. This means we must also listen to people from countries that according to certain definitions may not be free. The complexities that many nations in the Middle East and Africa have in keeping fanatics from taking over is huge and we must help them rather than hinder them.

If you ever read this, I would consider it a miracle, but that is what I'm hoping for.

Respectively submitted,
George Verwer

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