July 15, 2004
The Price of Freedom By: Bill O'Reilly for www.BillOReilly.com Thursday, Jul 15, 2004
(Editor's note: the original piece can be seen here)
A recent poll taken in Canada says that 40% of Canadian teenagers believe the United States is an "evil" country. Among French-Canadian teens, the number rises to 64%. This, of course, is hard to believe, and must be laid right on the doorstep of the often viciously anti-American Canadian press as well as irresponsible educators supposedly teaching Canadian kids about the world.
And all over the world, America is getting slaughtered in the arena of public opinion. Therefore, what can we expect from children? When government funded press agencies like the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation portray America as the world's chief villain, there's little anyone can do to balance the picture. The Fox News Channel, for example, isn't even allowed in Canada.
So for the benefit of the Canadian kids, and, indeed, children all over the world, I am going to set the record straight right here in this column.
Let's start with an undeniable fact: The United States of America has set more people free than any other country in the history of mankind. We all know about World War II, but here's what's happened recently:
In Eastern Europe, the policies of Ronald Reagan led to the freeing of at least 122 million people from Soviet domination.
More than 48 million South Koreans remain free because of American protection.
Nearly 23 million Taiwanese remain free because of American protection.
The state of Israel and five and a half million Jews would be crushed by its enemies if not for American aid.
By removing the brutal regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, America and Britain have given almost 50 million people at least a shot at some kind of self-determination. Also, the American-driven campaign against the butcher Milosovic in the Balkans saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, most of them Muslims.
America is sending $3 billion a year to Africa to combat the AIDS epidemic. By comparison Canada is sending $270 million, France a paltry $60 million.
And those countries have the nerve to portray America as a villain? How many human beings has France freed over the past 60 years? The same question can be asked of Canada. Yes, those nations have helped the USA on occasion, but they are drifting away from reality now.
It's not only Canadians and the French who are misguided about the USA; there's also a fifth column in America itself. The "anarchists" are hoping to disrupt the Republican convention in New York City. Police believe they will use violent means to do so.
And the verbal violence on display daily by partisan fanatics is growing more despicable by the moment. Michael Moore and his acolytes hide behind the "dissent" label, but they are not dissenters, they're destroyers. Moore has been quoted as saying capitalism is "diabolical," even as he trucks his millions to the bank. By the way, did you know that associates of Hezbollah want to help distribute Moore's movie in the Middle East? What does that tell you?
The truth is that America is a great country striving to protect itself in an ungrateful and dangerous world. We, the people, have sacrificed blood and money so others could have a chance in life. Yet many teenagers in Canada are convinced we are an evil nation. The powers-that-be in Canada should be ashamed that their young people are so ignorant but I know they are not. Ignorance, you see, is most often a contagious disease.
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