Intellectuals speak out on terrorism war

VFW Magazine, April, 2002

Despite the anti-American rhetoric emanating from some campuses last September, 60 prominent academics issued a statement supporting America's war against terror.

In a 10-page letter--"What We're Fighting For: A Letter From America"--the signers clearly defined who the enemy is: "radical Islam." This "-ism" was defined as a "violent, extremist and radically intolerant religious-political movement that now threatens the world, including the Muslim world."

This declaration was essential, said one of the professors, because "inside the academy ... there's this view that the American use of force always represents an imperial or nefarious purpose." Signers included a wide spectrum of thinkers with varying ideological views.