Editor,

This letter addresses Nate Fisher´s October 19 article: "Student March Protests War In Afghanistan."

The article noted that among the chants of antiwar protesters was: "1-2-3-4. We don’t want your racist war."

I take issue with protesters that label U.S. military action in Afghanistan racist. The United States is fighting in Afghanistan because the Taliban regime supports the terrorist network responsible for the September 11 attacks and harbors the leader of that network. The actions of the United States are in no way motivated by the race of the Taliban or the people of Afghanistan.

War should be criticized when it is unjust, and the reason that the war is unjust ought to be trumpeted. I respect protesters that argue that the United States is not taking sufficient measures to protect innocent civilians, or that military action will destabilize the Middle East and cause other currently moderate countries to come under the control of fundamentalist governments. I can also respect protesters who say that the war will not further our security interests, and that it will only fuel more terrorism.

But I cannot respect protesters who label this war racist. Their tactics take advantage of a loaded term to denounce something that they oppose even though the term is in fact not applicable. The mere fact that we are at war with a nonwhite nation does not make the war racist by default. The word racism has a meaning and protesters ought to pay attention to it.

There are elements of our war against Afghanistan that can be rightfully debated and protested; it is counterproductive to undermine them with sensational accusations of racism that appeal to our emotions but not our brains. And labeling something racist as a tool of propaganda is irresponsible when racism does exist in many of our world’s conflicts. If protests and protesters are to be taken seriously their words must be based on fact, and they must appeal to our rational judgement, not our instinct to oppose anything that is labeled racist, whether it is in fact racist or not.

Sincerely,

Conor Friedersdorf ’02