Letter to the Editor

To the Daily:

In his letter (Syed goes too far in his criticism of Bush,
America 04/10/04), Brett Lyon employs the same tactic that
President Bush has been credited with ever since he took office
— masterfully avoiding the real issues. While responding to a
very well-written viewpoint, Lyon fails miserably to even attempt
to answer the real questions and criticisms that Syed had brought
up. If his letter was truly in the defense of the Bush agenda
(read: propaganda), I don’t believe it did the Bush
administration any good. No one can follow an administration of
liars except for people who blindly follow their leaders and not
question their motives — Al-Qaida and do the Taliban are only
two examples. If this nation starts to exhibit the qualities of the
fore-mentioned organizations, it won’t be long before chaos
engulfs America too.

To me, Syed’s viewpoint was not designed to launch a
personal attack on any part of the American community, but a
reflection of generalized attitudes. While that may not have been
the best way for him to address the issues, I did not feel he
resorted to personal attacks in his rhetoric — except those
aimed at Bush himself. I was offended by Lyon’s attack on
Syed, however, and this “American’s” treatment of
Syed as a second-class citizen of this country — unless he
knows surely of Syed’s status as a naturalized citizen. Even
then, the rights which are extended to all citizens of this country
(including the right of free speech), naturalized or not, are the
same constitutional rights as of the American-born citizens. I
guess Lyon would not have had a problem with the author’s
citizenship if the same article was written by a Chris or John or
by someone who unambiguously came across as an
“American;” Lyon could not accuse them of being
“proudly welcomed into this country with open arms who then
have the audacity to address our president by his first name out of
disrespect”. Lyon’s assumption of Syed’s status
in this country, based solely on his name and Pakistani
affiliation, was a contradiction of his letter in itself.

The only thing the Bush administration has been good at is
generating lies and ignorant, close-minded people like Lyon who can
(and do) only resort to “petty arguments” because they
have no substantial argument to make of their own! They choose to
ignore the facts and believe in the scripted press conferences
designed to satisfy voters like Lyon. Then again, their attitudes
are a reflection of the leadership they so adamantly support.

Sana Hafeez

LSA junior