This is a sequel to my last month’s blog post, Part 1 of 2: “Unbroken.”
The reason I wanted to watch both movies on the same day is simple. Several decades separate the two actual events: (1) World War II and (2) War on Terrorism by Muslim Extremists. Yet the reason for both wars is exactly the same. It is to crush evil.
Since the War of 1812, in recent history, Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 was the first attack on the American soil by another country. Fast forward 60 years to September 11, 2001 – most of us alive today saw the horrors of commercial jets flying into the Twin Towers in New York. That is pure evil.
Both wars began with violent surprise attacks on America. The only difference was that, this time, there was no clearly-identifiable country that initiated the attack. Rather, it was an act by Muslim Extremists. Shortly after the 9/11 attack, Chris Kyle was deployed to Iraq.
For some reason that I cannot fathom, today’s war has never been identified as what it actually is by the current Administration. More on this later.
Both stories, “Unbroken” and “American Sniper,” are about human conflicts which involve American soldiers who are in the battlefield to fight evil – to protect freedom.
Prior to viewing the movie, I had not read the book, “American Sniper.” In fact, I was not even aware of the book until the movie came out. And, boom, I had to watch it right away.
As I wrote last month, I gave “Unbroken,” the book, 10+ on a scale of 10. Purely comparing the two movies, however, I liked “American Sniper” better. Why?
“American Sniper” is about a soldier, Chris Kyle, who served the military as a Navy SEAL in the on-going War on Terrorism by Muslim Extremists. He survived the horrors of the war – only to be killed by another former soldier whom he was trying to help adjust back into the civilian life. His official Facebook page is now administered by his wife, Taya Kyle, and close family friends. Rather than rehash the details about Chris Kyle’s life that we can find out from the Internet as well as the movie, I will focus more on a comparative look at the two Wars.
Less than 4 years after the American involvement in WWII in 1941, the evil was crushed. In most of the Western hemisphere, peace followed. In contrast, it has been 14 years since the 9/11 attack. As of this writing, there is no end in sight about our ability to crush the evil. Why?
Here is a possible clue. I heard someone say, “If you cannot name the problem accurately, you cannot begin to attack it properly.” I cannot help but wonder what President Barak Obama is trying to achieve by avoiding to call the current war what it actually is. I wonder about it as an adult immigrant from Japan. I speculate, and sincerely appreciate, the fact that the President is hyper-sensitive about America’s history and its own mistakes with respect to human rights. More specifically, discrimination against its own citizens based solely on race and national origin.
Before continuing with this blog post, I need to make a full disclosure. Having come to the United States from Japan in 1972, which was 27 years after the end of WWII, my observation is being made purely as a relatively-recent immigrant. In other words, the only commonality I have with Japanese Americans is that we share the same ancestry. Therefore, I am not in a position to speak on behalf of Japanese Americans who experienced not only the loss of their properties through confiscation but detention in camps within the United States during WWII. From today’s vantage point, there is no question that this could have been handled better by the U.S. government.
Now, a reality check. As in any human endeavors, things are never perfect. Let’s imagine, for a moment, that we are back in 1941 in Any Town, U.S.A. It was the Japanese that violently attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7th. Although most Japanese knew of America, most Americans did not know of Japan or what historically-brewing elements in the relationship between the two countries led to its “surprise” attack on that fateful day. Given what had happened, the U.S. government had no choice but to protect the security of its citizens. The attack galvanized Americans of all racial and national backgrounds to defend freedom – even including Japanese Americans – albeit there were plenty of examples of discrimination and human-rights violations both inside and outside of the military within the United States. In 1941, the American government was not equipped well enough to make distinctions between the Japanese and Japanese Americans. So they resorted to lumping them together in their handling of Japanese Americans. Therein lies the violation of civil rights of Japanese Americans – who were American citizens – who had absolutely nothing to do with the attack by the Japanese military.
In contrast, today, the American government has to have the full capability to distinguish the Muslim Extremists from law-abiding Muslim Americans. Given such capability, when the President of the United States does not call the War what it actually is (i.e., War on Terrorism by Muslim Extremists), it makes me wonder what else he is not sharing with the rest of America. It gives me the impression that the President Obama is not ready to fight the evil – that is the Muslim Extremists – but rather ready to roll over and appease them.
Regardless of the historical reasons behind any attack, in a civilized world, we reject violence against another human being – whether it happens behind closed doors within a household or on an international scale. Whoever chooses to initiate violence must be swiftly crushed, no ifs, ands, or buts. For this reason, paradoxically, when involving national security, countries that are committed to peaceful existence with the rest of the world must have strong military capability. Human nature being what it is, to reject strong military capability is to enable those who choose to conquer the world with violence and forceful means.
Since the 9/11 attack, which was nearly 15 years ago, many Americans have finally come to understand the historically violent nature of the Muslim Extremists, which goes back centuries. I believe we are now in the phase of human history where, once again, good will need to be galvanized to crush evil. This time, the evil is called the Muslim Extremists.
Calling it what it is accurately is the least I can do to help make sure that the efforts of Chris Kyle and all other soldiers will not have been in vain. We owe our freedom to these soldiers and their families.
