September 24, 2001

Patriotism in time of war

The war against terrorists has hardly begun, and the anti-war activists are already in mid-season form. A group called the Washington Peace Center, which urges the United States not to answer "violence with vengeance," is planning demonstrations in the nation's capital on Sept. 30. Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover are among the organizers of a coalition urging the administration not to take rash action but to work "cooperatively as part of a community of nations within the framework of international law." Several hundred students rallied at Harvard Thursday with signs bearing messages like "War Is Also Terrorism." One speaker announced, "As long as the United States is exploiting the rest of the world to create your own wealth, you won't ever have peace."

You may be thinking the obvious: What morons. And you'd be right. If these imperturbable opponents of war had been around on Dec. 7, 1941, they would have urged President Roosevelt to arrange a friendly chat with the Japanese and try to understand their grievances.

But while the peace activists may have very little to say that is persuasive, we should be grateful they're speaking up. War is a time for unity, but not uniformity. Now more than ever, we need to make sure America makes plenty of room for dissent.

That has not always been the case. During the First World War, one man went to prison under the Espionage Act for telling volunteer knitters, "No soldier ever sees these socks." In the infamous postwar Palmer Raids, the FBI arrested thousands of people and held them incommunicado for their leftist political beliefs and their suspected involvement in domestic bombings. "Most of those arrested," reports "The Oxford Companion to American History," "were found to be harmless."

After Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were hauled off to internment camps, not for their views but for their ancestry. Furious over an embarrassing Chicago Tribune exclusive about the Battle of Midway, FDR wanted publisher Robert McCormick, one of his staunchest critics, put on trial for treason.

During the Cold War, panic about communism fueled the rise of McCarthyism, which tarred countless innocent people as subversives. The abuses uncovered in the Watergate scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's paranoia about opposition to the Vietnam War. They were merely the culmination of decades of illegal surveillance and harassment of dissidents.

The flurry of flag-waving in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 atrocities was a spontaneous show of national sorrow, pride and determination. It reflected a warm and generous brand of patriotism, and an outpouring of sympathy for those who died at the hands of terrorists.

But during times of war, some people try to use our national banner as a gag. A generation ago, flag decals proliferated with slogans like "America: Love It or Leave It," self-styled patriots beat up anti-war demonstrators, and country singer Merle Haggard had a hit song expressing a common sentiment toward anyone opposing U.S. policies: "You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me." The widespread conviction was that questioning the war was tantamount to betraying your country.

We've learned a lot since then. Still, the impulse to equate loyalty with blind allegiance is not dead. When a reporter dared to ask about the Fox News Channel's decision to adorn all its broadcasts with an American flag, senior vice president John Moody replied, "I'd sure prefer that to a hammer and sickle, I'll tell you that." There you have it: Either you're a loyal American who loves the Stars and Stripes, or you're a filthy communist. It's even been argued that anyone selling stocks is unpatriotic.

Reverence for Old Glory can easily turn into idolatry. Georgetown University law professor David Cole guesses that though Congress has repeatedly failed to approve a constitutional amendment banning desecration of the flag, it probably wouldn't have the nerve to block it now.

During brief and controversial military campaigns, like the ones against Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic, Americans seem to have no trouble letting the skeptics be heard. But in a long and arduous undertaking like the new war against terrorists, where doubts have been scarce, the patience of the majority toward the minority may prove limited -- particularly if things go poorly and the national consensus starts to unravel. Then the impulse to silence disagreement could emerge.

We need to keep in mind that you can love your country even if you don't support whatever is necessary to bring back Osama bin Laden's head on a pike. During wartime, soldiers need to obey their superiors without question. Citizens, however, have a duty to think for themselves, to tolerate different and even foolish opinions, and to challenge their leaders when they are wrong. If our enemies are attacking freedom, this is no time for Americans to abandon it.