Winning the war for the hearts and minds of Muslims

On 9/17/2004 Sue Niederer of Hopewell disrupted a Laura Bush campaign speech in Hamilton, NJ. Ms. Niederer’s son, Army First Lieutenant Seth Dvorin, had recently been killed in Iraq when the IED he was working to defuse exploded. During the First Lady’s speech Ms. Niederer began yelling “President Bush killed my son.”

While I am a staunch advocate of free speech I also believe in courtesy and order so I don’t have much of a problem with Ms. Niederer being escorted from the event. Courtesy might have prompted Mrs Bush to offer immediate condolences to honor First Lieutenant Dvorin’s sacrifice. Respect might also have prompted the young republicans distributed throughout the crowd to reexamine their instructions to begin chanting “four more years” in response to any disruption. Absence of grace and thoughtfulness when dealing with the bereaved mother of a soldier killed in action is not a crime, so none of them were arrested.

Ms. Niederer was escorted to the curb. Soon a crowd of reporters began to gather around her, providing the forum she sought so desperately for her opposition to the war in Iraq. Seeing this, the authorities reconsidered their interpretation of Ms. Niederer’s actions inside the hall. Apparently disrupting a speech and just standing on the sidewalk after getting kicked out doesn’t merit arrest. But disrupting a speech and standing on the sidewalk talking to reporters is punishable by arrest. Ms. Niederer was detained for a few hours, charged with defiant trespass, and released. Ms. Niederer did have a ticket to attend the event. Authorities later explained that the charge resulted from her failure to leave a private event.

The Bush Administration says the war in Iraq is about the spread of democracy. But what we need to be exporting is liberal democracy. One of the characteristics of a liberal democracy is that citizens have inalienable rights and freedoms. Among those freedoms traditionally afforded are free speech, freedom of assembly, and of the press. Arresting Ms. Niederer only after she began speaking with reporters violates at least two if not all three of those inalienable rights.

Simply setting up polls without inculcating the ideals of democracy is likely to produce one man, one vote, one time. Particularly if the exporter violates those very ideals. In the long run the safety of ourselves and our allies depends on making our way of life attractive to the great majority, the non militant Muslims.